29 C.F.R. Subpart C—Employment of Minors Between 14 and 16 Years of Age (Child Labor Reg. 3)
Title 29 - Labor
Authority: 29 U.S.C. 203(l), 212.
The employment of minors between 14 and 16 years of age in the occupations, for the periods, and under the conditions hereafter specified does not interfere with their schooling or with their health and well-being and shall not be deemed to be oppressive child labor. In all occupations covered by this subpart the employment (including suffering or permitting to work) by an employer of minor employees between 14 and 16 years of age for the periods and under the conditions specified in §570.35 shall not be deemed to be oppressive child labor within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This subpart shall apply to all occupations other than the following: (a) Manufacturing, mining, or processing occupations, including occupations requiring the performance of any duties in work rooms or work places where goods are manufactured, mined, or otherwise processed; (b) Occupations which involve the operation or tending of hoisting apparatus or of any power-driven machinery other than office machines; (c) The operation of motor vehicles or service as helpers on such vehicles; (d) Public messenger service; (e) Occupations which the Secretary of Labor may, pursuant to section 3(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Reorganization Plan No. 2, issued pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1945, find and declare to be hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health or well-being; (f) Occupations in connection with: (1) Transportation of persons or property by rail, highway, air, water, pipeline, or other means; (2) Warehousing and storage; (3) Communications and public utilities; (4) Construction (including demolition and repair); except such office (including ticket office) work, or sales work, in connection with paragraphs (f)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section, as does not involve the performance of any duties on trains, motor vehicles, aircraft, vessels, or other media of transportation or at the actual site of construction operations. (a) This subpart shall apply to the following permitted occupations for minors between the ages of 14 and 16 employed by retail, food service, and gasoline service establishments. (1) Office and clerical work, including the operation of office machines; (2) Cashiering, selling, modeling, art work, work in advertising departments, window trimming, and comparative shopping; (3) Price marking and tagging by hand or by machine, assembling orders, packing and shelving; (4) Bagging and carrying out customers' orders; (5) Errand and delivery work by foot, bicycle, and public transportation; (6) Clean up work, including the use of vacuum cleaners and floor waxers, and maintenance of grounds, but not including the use of power-driven mowers, or cutters; (7) Kitchen work and other work involved in preparing and serving food and beverages, including operating machines and devices used in performing such work. Examples of permitted machines and devices include, but are not limited to, dishwashers, toasters, dumbwaiters, popcorn poppers, milk shake blenders, coffee grinders, automatic coffee machines, devices used to maintain the temperature of prepared foods (such as warmers, steam tables, and heat lamps), and microwave ovens that are used only to warm prepared food and do not have the capacity to warm above 140 °F. Minors are permitted to clean kitchen equipment (not otherwise prohibited), remove oil or grease filters, pour oil or grease through filters, and move receptacles containing hot grease or hot oil, but only when the equipment, surfaces, containers and liquids do not exceed a temperature of 100 °F; (8) Work in connection with cars and trucks if confined to the following: Dispensing gasoline and oil; courtesy service; car cleaning, washing and polishing; and other occupations permitted by this section, but not including work involving the use of pits, racks, or lifting apparatus, or involving the inflation of any tire mounted on a rim equipped with a removable retaining ring. (9) Cleaning vegetables and fruits, and wrapping, sealing, labeling, weighing, pricing and stocking goods when performed in areas physically separate from those where the work described in paragraph (b)(7) of this section is performed; (b) Paragraph (a) of this section shall not be construed to permit the application of this subpart to any of the following occupations in retail, food service, and gasoline service establishments: (1) All occupations listed in §570.33 except occupations involving processing, operation of machines and work in rooms where processing and manufacturing take place which are permitted by paragraph (a) of this section; (2) Work performed in or about boiler or engine rooms; (3) Work in connection with maintenance or repair of the establishment, machines or equipment; (4) Outside window washing that involves working from window sills, and all work requiring the use of ladders, scaffolds, or their substitutes; (5) Baking and cooking are prohibited except: (i) Cooking is permitted with electric or gas grilles which does not involve cooking over an open flame ( (ii) Cooking is permitted with deep fryers that are equipped with and utilize a device which automatically lowers the baskets into the hot oil or grease and automatically raises the baskets from the hot oil or grease; (6) Occupations which involve operating, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing power-driven food slicers and grinders, food choppers, and cutters, and bakery-type mixers; (7) Work in freezers and meat coolers and all work in the preparation of meats for sale except as described in paragraph (a)(9) of this section; (8) Loading and unloading goods to and from trucks, railroad cars, or conveyors; (9) All occupations in warehouses except office and clerical work. [27 FR 4165, May 2, 1962. Redesignated at 28 FR 1634, Feb. 21, 1963. Redesignated and amended at 36 FR 25156, Dec. 29, 1971; 69 FR 75402, Dec. 16, 2004] (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, employment in any of the occupations to which this subpart is applicable shall be confined to the following periods: (1) Outside school hours; (2) Not more than 40 hours in any 1 week when school is not in session; (3) Not more than 18 hours in any 1 week when school is in session; (4) Not more than 8 hours in any 1 day when school is not in session; (5) Not more than 3 hours in any 1 day when school is in session; (6) Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. in any 1 day, except during the summer (June 1 through Labor Day) when the evening hour will be 9 p.m. (b) In the case of minors 14 and 15 years of age who are employed to perform sports-attending services at professional sporting events, i.e., baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, etc., the requirements of paragraphs (a)(2) through (a)(6) of this section shall not apply, provided that the duties of the sports-attendant occupation consist of pre- and post-game or practice setup of balls, items and equipment; supplying and retrieving balls, items and equipment during a sporting event; clearing the field or court of debris, moisture, etc. during play; providing ice, drinks, towels, etc., to players during play; running errands for trainers, managers, coaches, and players before, during, and after a sporting event; and returning and/or storing balls, items and equipment in club house or locker room after a sporting event. For purposes of this exception, impermissible duties include grounds or field maintenance such as grass mowing, spreading or rolling tarpaulins used to cover playing areas, etc.; cleaning and repairing equipment; cleaning locker rooms, showers, lavatories, rest rooms, team vehicles, club houses, dugouts or similar facilities; loading and unloading balls, items, and equipment from team vehicles before and after a sporting event; doing laundry; and working in concession stands or other selling and promotional activities. [32 FR 15478, Nov. 8, 1967. Redesignated and amended at 36 FR 25156, Dec. 29, 1971; 37 FR 5246, Mar. 11, 1972; 60 FR 19339, Apr. 17, 1995] (a) This section varies some provisions of this subpart for the employment of minors between 14 and 16 years of age who are enrolled in and employed pursuant to a school-supervised and school-administered work-experience and career exploration program which meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section, in the occupations permitted under paragraph (c) of this section, and for the periods and under the conditions specified in paragraph (d) of this section. With these safeguards, such employment is found not to interfere with the schooling of the minors or with their health and well-being and therefore is not deemed to be oppressive child labor. (b)(1) A school-supervised and school-administered work-experience and career exploration program shall meet the educational standards established and approved by the State Educational Agency in the respective State. (2) The State Educational Agency shall file with the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division a letter of application for approval of a State program as one not interfering with schooling or with the health and well-being of the minors involved and therefore not constituting oppressive child labor. The application must include information concerning the criteria listed in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. The Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division shall approve the application, or give prompt notice of any denial and the reasons therefor. (3) The criteria to be used in consideration of applications are the following: (i) Eligibility. Any student aged 14 or 15 years who authoritative local school personnel identify as being able to benefit from the program shall be eligible to participate. (ii) Credits. Students shall receive school credits for both in-school related instruction and on-the-job experience. (iii) Size. Each program unit shall be a reasonable size. A unit of 12 to 25 students to one teacher-coordinator would be generally considered reasonable. Whether other sizes are reasonable would depend upon the individual facts and circumstances involved. (iv) Instructional schedule. There shall be (a) allotted time for the required classroom instruction in those subjects necessary for graduation under the State's standards and (b) regularly scheduled classroom periods of instruction devoted to job-related and to employability skill instruction. (v) Teacher-coordinator. Each program unit shall be under the supervision of a school official to be designated for the purpose of the program as a teacher-coordinator, who shall generally supervise the program and coordinate the work and education aspects of the program and make regularly scheduled visits to the work stations. (vi) Written training agreement. No student shall participate in the program until there has been made a written training agreement signed by the teacher-coordinator, the employer, and the student. The agreement shall also be signed or otherwise consented to by the student's parent or guardian. (vii) Other provisions. Any other provisions of the program providing safeguards ensuring that the employment permitted under this section will not interfere with the schooling of the minors or with their health and well-being may also be submitted for use in consideration of the application. (4) Every State Educational Agency having students in a program approved pursuant to the requirements of this section shall comply with the following: (i) Permissible occupations. No student shall be assigned to work in any occupation other than one permitted under paragraph (c) of this section. (ii) Records and reports. The names and addresses of each school enrolling work experience and career exploration program students and the number of enrollees in each unit shall be kept at the State Educational Agency office. A copy of the written training agreement for each student participating in the program shall be kept in the State Educational Agency office or in the local educational office. The records required for this paragraph shall be kept for a period of 3 years from the date of enrollment in the program and shall be made available for inspection or transcription to the representatives of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. (c) Employment of minors enrolled in a program approved pursuant to the requirements of this section shall be permitted in all occupations except the following: (1) Manufacturing and mining. (2) Occupations declared to be hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age in subpart E of this part, and occupations in agriculture declared to be hazardous for employment of minors below the age of 16 in subpart E–1 of this part. (3) Occupations other than those permitted under §§570.33 and 570.34, except upon approval of a variation by the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division in acting on the program application of the State Educational Agency. The Administrator shall have discretion to grant requests for special variations if the applicant demonstrates that the activity will be performed under adequate supervision and training (including safety precautions) and that the terms and conditions of the proposed employment will not interfere with the health or well-being or schooling of the minor enrolled in an approved program. The granting of a special variation is determined on a case-by-case basis. (i) The Administrator's decision on whether to grant a special variation will be based on information provided in the application filed by the State Educational Agency, and/or any supplemental information that may be requested by the Administrator. (ii) The Administrator's decision shall be in writing, and may designate specific equipment safeguards or other terms and conditions governing the work-activity approved by variation. If the request is denied, in whole or part, the reason(s) for the decision will be provided to the applicant, who may request reconsideration. (iii) A special variation will be valid only during the period covered by an approved program, and must be renewed with the filing of a new program application. (iv) The Administrator shall revoke or deny a special variation, in whole or in part, where there is reason to believe that program participants have been or will be employed contrary to terms and conditions specified for the variation, or these regulations, other provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, or otherwise in conditions detrimental to their health or well-being or schooling. (v) Requests for special variations and related documentation will be available for examination in the Branch of Child Labor and Polygraph Standards, Wage and Hour Division, Room S3510, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Any interested person may oppose the granting of a special variation or may request reconsideration or revocation of a special variation. Such requests shall set forth reasons why the special variation should be denied or revoked. (d) Employment of minors enrolled in a program approved pursuant to the requirements of this section shall be confined to not more than 23 hours in any 1 week when school is in session and not more than 3 hours in any day when school is in session, any portion of which may be during school hours. Insofar as these provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of §570.35, this section shall be controlling. (e) The employment of a minor enrolled in a program pursuant to the requirements of this section must not have the effect of displacing a worker employed in the establishment of the employer. (f) Programs shall be in force and effect for a period of two (2) school years from the date of their approval by the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. A new application for approval must be filed at the end of that period. Failure to meet the requirements of this section may result in withdrawal of approval. [40 FR 40801, Sept. 4, 1975; 40 FR 44130, Sept. 25, 1975; 47 FR 145, Jan. 5, 1982; 47 FR 28095, June 29, 1982, as amended at 49 FR 18294, Apr. 30, 1984; 60 FR 19339, Apr. 17, 1995] The employment of any minor in any of the occupations to which this subpart is applicable, if confined to the periods specified in §570.35, shall not be deemed to constitute oppressive child labor within the meaning of the act if the employer shall have on file an unexpired certificate, issued in substantially the same manner as that provided for the issuance of certificates in subpart A of this part relating to certificates of age, certifying that such minor is of an age between 14 and 16 years. [16 FR 7008, July 20, 1951. Redesignated at 27 FR 4165, May 2, 1962, and 28 FR 1634, Feb. 21, 1963. Redesignated and amended at 36 FR 25156, Dec. 29, 1971] No provision of this subpart shall under any circumstances justify or be construed to permit noncompliance with the wage and hour provisions of the act or with the provisions of any other Federal law or of any State law or municipal ordinance establishing higher standards than those established under this subpart. [16 FR 7008, July 20, 1951. Redesignated at 27 FR 4165, May 2, 1962, and 28 FR 1634, Feb. 21, 1963. Redesignated and amended at 36 FR 25156, Dec. 29, 1971]
Title 29: Labor
PART 570—CHILD LABOR REGULATIONS, ORDERS AND STATEMENTS OF INTERPRETATION
Subpart C—Employment of Minors Between 14 and 16 Years of Age (Child Labor Reg. 3)
§ 570.31 Secretary's determinations concerning the employment of minors 14 and 15 years of age.
§ 570.32 Effect of subpart C.
§ 570.33 Prohibited occupations for minors 14 and 15 years of age.
§ 570.34 Occupations minors 14 and 15 years of age are permitted to perform in retail, food service, and gasoline service establishments.
§ 570.35 Hours of work and conditions of employment permitted for minors 14 and 15 years of age.
§ 570.35a Work experience and career exploration program.
§ 570.36 Effect of a certificate of age under this subpart.
§ 570.37 Effect of this subpart on other laws.
