Reminder to Parents, Employers About Summer Jobs

Date: May 26, 2017

News Release--NFIB issues five-point checklist for youth employment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elizabeth Milito, Small Business Legal Center, [email protected]
or Rae Ann Kelsch, North Dakota State Director, [email protected]

BISMARCK, N.D., May 26, 2017— The representative association for the people most likely to offer summer jobs to the young issued a short checklist, today, to parents and employers to help keep things legal.

The National Federation of Independent Business, America’s voice of small business, with 325,000 dues-paying members, including more than 2,500 in North Dakota, recommended employers and parents take stock of the following:

  • The rules apply to them. Just because they’re in school doesn’t mean employers can take advantage of them. Minors are entitled to the same minimum wage, overtime, and safety and health protections as adults. When it comes to work, the federal wage and hour law, officially known as the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, applies to everyone, regardless of age. Other federal and state workplace laws apply to them, too.
  • Students 13 and younger have limited options when it comes to summer jobs. Federal law says they’re too young for most non-farming jobs, such as working in a store or restaurant, but there are still jobs they can do. They’re allowed to babysit and perform minor chores around a private home, and if you own a business, they’re allowed to work for you.
  • If they’re 14 or 15, their prospects are better. Students in this age bracket are allowed to perform jobs such as bagging groceries, waiting tables and working in an office, but they can’t use power-driven machinery, such as lawn mowers, lawn trimmers, and weed cutters. They also aren’t allowed to work more than 40 hours a week, or 8 hours in one day.
  • If they’re 16 or 17, they’re allowed to work up a sweat and earn serious money. There’s no limit to the number of hours 16- and 17-year-olds can work, and they’re allowed to work basically any job that isn’t declared hazardous, provided all other FLSA and state labor requirements are met.
  • If they’re 18 or older, legally, they’re adults. It doesn’t matter that they’re still in school. In the eyes of the law, they’re grown up, and that means they can do pretty much any job for which they’re qualified.

More information can be found on this video by Beth Milito, senior counsel at NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. Follow NFIB/North Dakota on Twitter at @NFIB_ND and on our webpage at www.nfib.com/north-dakota.

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The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s leading small-business advocacy association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small- and independent-business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system.  

National Federation of Independent Business/North Dakota
PO Box 7370
Bismarck, N.D. 58507
701-220-0003
www.nfib.com/north-dakota
Twitter: @NFIB_ND

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