With spring weather finally arriving, many companies are now hiring summer interns or have youth employment. There are some tricky pieces to young employment that are worth sharing with you. First be advised or warned that youth employment rules are strictly enforced. Regulators take great care of providing an extra layer of protection for employees under 18 years old. Let me cover some of the restrictions that apply to employees under 18. The law is clear about occupational duties that are restricted based on age. Employees under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in ANY hazardous or injurious occupation. The regulations then specify some of the items included in their hazardous or injurious tasks: driving, working power equipment, exposure to hazardous substances or chemicals, driving hoisting apparatus such as lift trucks or Bobcats, running any power driven metal forming, punching, or shearing machines, running circular saws or band saws or involvement in any building maintenance such as roofing or painting.

There is a narrow exception of some of the above tasks. The exceptions are permitted in order for students to be enrolled in state approved career or technical education training or apprentice programs. They must be specifically approved and documented.

The Michigan child labor laws also require adult supervision for any employee under 18 years of age. These rules become even more strict if the employee is under the age of 16. The good news for the summer is that the many rules dealing with limited hours during the school year are not a factor. But just a red flag for the rest of the year, the child labor laws are very specific to make sure that the hours are limited and do not infringe upon youth school activities.

At the beginning of this topic I mentioned regulator enforcement is aggressive and punishment for violations is significant and severe. A first violation is imprisonment for one year, and a fine of $2,000. A second violation is a $10,000 fine and 10 years of imprisonment. The Department of Labor takes seriously their role in requiring safe environment for employees under the age of 18.

Even with these restrictions, student interns are a helpful resource and a benefit for both the company and the youth employee. At MTM we use interns to help us with mass mailings, filing, and other office duties. The youth gets to build some experience for their first resume and the company gets some tasks taken care of that are difficult to accomplish during the regular business day. I expect that our member shops have seen the same rewards for both their company and for their kids that are involved.

If you run across a question on this, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can go over it in more detail with you. The law is four pages, single-spaced, we are happy to share that with you for those that are interested. Until next month, I hope you enjoy the spring weather and we will get ready for the warm days just around the corner.