Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
The Farm Labor Equality Act.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning conditions of employment for farmworkers, revising various portions of the statutory law, and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 7 of P.L.1940, c. 153 (C.34:2-21.7) is amended to read as follows:
7. (a) Except as permitted under section 15 of this act, no minor under 18 years of age shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with any gainful occupation, unless and until the person employing such minor shall procure and keep on file an employment certificate or special permit for such minor, issued by the issuing officer of the school district in which the child resides, or of the district in which the child has obtained a promise of employment if the child is a nonresident of the State; provided, that:
(1) [No certificate or special permit shall be required for any child 16 years of age or over employed in agricultural pursuits] (deleted by amendment; P.L. , c. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(2) No certificate or special permit shall be required for any child 14 years of age or over employed at such times as the schools of his district are not in session, at any agricultural fair, horse, dog, or farm show the duration of which does not exceed 10 days; and
(3) No vacation certificate shall be required in the first 14 days of employment for any minor 15 years of age or over employed in seasonal amusement, food service, restaurant or retail occupations, at such times as the schools of his district are not in session, provided that no minor under 16 years of age shall be permitted to operate, or service, or to work in, about, or in connection with power-driven machinery.
(b) The employment covered under this section shall not require or involve work in, about, or in connection with employments prohibited by P.L. 1970, c. 115 (C. 34:2-21.15) and P.L. 1973, c. 204 (C. 34:2-21.17) of the child labor laws.
(c) Such certificate or special permit shall be issued in triplicate in such form and in accordance with such instructions as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner of Education shall supply to the issuing officers all blank forms to be used in connection with the issuance of such certificates, and special permits as provided for in section 15 of this act.
(d) Employment certificates shall be of two kinds, regular certificates permitting employment during school hours, and vacation certificates permitting employment during the school vacation and during the school term at such times as the public schools are not in session.
(e) The original copy of the employment certificate shall be mailed by the issuing officer to the prospective employer of the minor for whom it is issued; a duplicate copy shall be mailed to the Department of Labor in Trenton as provided in section 12 of this act, and a triplicate copy shall be kept in the files of the issuing officer. The issuing officer may refuse to grant a certificate, if in his judgment, the best interests of the minor would be served by such refusal and he shall keep a record of such refusals, and the reasons therefor.
(cf: P.L.1987, c.125)
2. Section 15 of P.L.1940, c. 153 (C.34:2-21.15) is amended to read as follows:
15. Except as hereinafter provided as to newspaper carriers, no minor under 14 years of age may engage in any street trade, which term, for the purpose of this section shall include the selling, offering for sale, soliciting for, collecting for, displaying, or distributing any articles, goods, merchandise, commercial service, posters, circulars, newspapers or magazines or in blacking shoes on any street or other public place or from house to house. [No] Until December 31, 2020, no minor under 12 years of age may be employed in agricultural pursuits. After December 31, 2020, no minor under 14 years of age may be employed in agricultural pursuits, and minors under 18 years of age shall be subject to the provisions of section 3 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.3).
Whenever a minor has graduated from vocational school, approved by the Commissioner of Education and is 17 years of age, the minor's diploma or certified copy thereof and an employment certificate mailed to the employer by the issuing officer shall be deemed a special permit to engage in those pursuits in which the minor majored in said vocational school during those hours permitted for persons 18 years of age and over.
Except as hereinafter provided as to newspaper carriers, whenever a minor under 16 years of age desires to work during such times as the schools of the district in which the minor resides are not in session in any street trade or in agricultural pursuits, the parent, guardian or other person having the custody and control of the minor may file with the issuing officer in the school district in which the minor resides an application for a special permit authorizing such work. Such application shall show the exact character of the work the minor is to do, and the hours and wages and special conditions under which said work is to be performed.
If upon investigation it is found that the facts set forth in the application are true and that the work will not interfere with the minor's health or standing in school, the issuing officer shall, upon presentation to the issuing officer of the same proof of age as is required for the issuance of an employment certificate, issue a special permit, allowing the minor to work at such times as the public schools in the district are not in session, but such work except in agricultural pursuits, and as newspaper carriers, to be otherwise subject to the maximum hours of labor provisions set for minors under 16 years of age in section 3 of this act; provided, that nothing in this act shall prevent newspaper carriers as defined in this act, between 11 and 14 years of age, from delivering, soliciting, selling and collecting for newspapers on routes in residential neighborhoods between the hours of 6:00 o'clock in the morning and 7:00 o'clock in the evening of any day; and newspaper carriers 14 years of age and older from delivering, soliciting, selling and collecting for newspapers on routes in residential neighborhoods between the hours of 5:30 o'clock in the morning and 8:00 o'clock in the evening of any day; and provided further that no newspaper carrier under the age of 18 years shall be permitted to engage in such occupation beyond the period of time wherein the combined hours devoted to said occupation as a newspaper carrier and the hours in school shall exceed a total of 40 hours per week and not more than 8 hours in any 1 day; and provided, further, that, prior to January 1, 2021, minors engaged in agricultural pursuits may be employed no more than 10 hours per day, and, after December 31, 2020, minors engaged in agricultural pursuits shall be subject to the limits in the number of hours they may be employed stipulated in the provisions of section 3 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.3).
Such special permit shall show the name, address, and date of birth of the minor for whom it is issued, the kind of proof of age submitted, the nature of the occupation in which the minor is to engage, and such other information as the commissioner of Education may require.
Any such special permit for work in agriculture shall be issued for a period not to exceed 6 months and shall show its date of expiration. Any pe