I am preparing to introduce legislation to amend the Child Labor Act.
 
State and federal child labor laws both allow minors to be employed in some otherwise-prohibited hazardous industrial occupations, if the minor is a student learner in that occupation. 
 
However, some student learners who complete these educational programs are still minors when they graduate high school, and a disparity in our state law prevents them from being employed immediately (in the occupation they trained for) upon graduation.  This means that trained and capable entry-level employees can be frozen out of the workforce – solely because of when their birthday falls on the calendar.
 
My bill will fix this disparity and allow high school graduates who completed an occupational training program to be employed in the occupation they have trained for, in a manner that is consistent with federal occupational restrictions for minors.
 
During the process of reviewing this issue, it has also come to my attention that the Department of Labor and Industry’s regulations on the employment of minors have not been amended since 1977.  Although the Child Labor Act was re-enacted in 2012, the department has not taken action to promulgate new regulations under the updated state law.  This has led to several inconsistencies between our statute and the regulations– including the standards for these minors who have graduated and completed training programs in hazardous occupations.
 
To begin the lengthy process of updating Pennsylvania’s child labor regulations, my bill will also require the Department of Labor and Industry to propose new regulations within one year – and the current outdated regulations will expire within three years.
 
I hope you will join me as a cosponsor.