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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 410
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 2591
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING PAID INTERNSHIPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 31-23 of the 2024 supplement to the general statutes 1
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2024): 3
(a) No minor under sixteen years of age shall be employed or 4
permitted to work in any manufacturing, mechanical, mercantile or 5
theatrical industry, restaurant or public dining room, or in any bowling 6
alley, shoe-shining establishment or barber shop, [provided] except the 7
Labor Commissioner may authorize such employment of any minor 8
between the ages of fourteen and sixteen who (1) is (A) enrolled in [(1)] 9
a public school in a work-study program as defined and approved by 10
the Commissioner of Education and the Labor Commissioner or in a 11
program established pursuant to section 10-20a, or [(2)] (B) participating 12
in a paid internship defined and approved by the Commissioner of 13
Education and the Labor Commissioner, or (2) is participating in a 14
summer work-recreation program sponsored by a town, city or borough 15 Raised Bill No. 410
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or by a human resources development agency which has been approved 16
by the Labor Commissioner, or both, and provided the prohibitions of 17
this section shall not apply to any minor over the age of fourteen who is 18
under vocational probation pursuant to an order of the Superior Court 19
as provided in section 46b-140 or to any minor over the age of fourteen 20
who has been placed on vocational parole by the Commissioner of 21
Children and Families. 22
(b) (1) A minor who has reached the age of fifteen and is participating 23
in a paid internship that is defined and approved by the Commissioner 24
of Education and Labor Commissioner, or who will reach the age of 25
fifteen during the same school year in which such minor is participating 26
in such paid internship, shall be permitted to work (A) not more than 27
one hundred twenty hours during such school year, and (B) during 28
school hours, provided such hours are approved by the superintendent 29
of schools. Minors participating in a paid internship shall be 30
compensated in accordance with chapter 558. 31
(2) Each person who employs a minor under the age of eighteen years 32
in a paid internship shall obtain a certificate stating the age of such 33
minor as provided in section 10-193, as amended by this act. Such 34
certificates shall be kept on file at the place of employment and shall be 35
available at all times during business hours to the inspectors of the 36
Labor Department. 37
[(b)] (c) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this 38
section, a minor who has reached the age of fourteen may be employed 39
or permitted to work as a caddie or in a pro shop at any municipal or 40
private golf course, and a minor who has reached the age of fifteen may 41
be employed or permitted to work as a staff member at a youth camp, 42
as defined in section 19a-420, as a lifeguard or in any mercantile 43
establishment as a bagger, cashier or stock clerk, provided such 44
employment is (A) limited to periods of school vacation during which 45
school is not in session for five consecutive days or more except that 46
such minor employed in a retail food store may work on any Saturday 47
during the year; (B) for not more than forty hours in any week; (C) for 48 Raised Bill No. 410
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not more than eight hours in any day; and (D) between the hours of 49
seven o'clock in the morning and seven o'clock in the evening, except 50
that from July first to the first Monday in September in any year, any 51
such minor may be employed until nine o'clock in the evening. Any 52
minor who has reached the age of fifteen and is employed or works as a 53
staff member at a youth camp or as a lifeguard shall be supervised by a 54
person of at least eighteen years of age. 55
(2) (A) Each person who employs a fourteen-year-old minor as a 56
caddie or in a pro shop at any municipal or private golf course pursuant 57
to this section shall obtain a certificate stating that such minor is fourteen 58
years of age or older, as provided in section 10-193, as amended by this 59
act, and (B) each person who employs a fifteen-year-old minor as a staff 60
member at a youth camp, as a lifeguard or in any mercantile 61
establishment pursuant to this subsection shall obtain a certificate 62
stating that such minor is fifteen years of age or older, as provided in 63
section 10-193, as amended by this act, except that no such certificate 64
shall be required for such minor employed by a municipality as a staff 65
member at a youth camp or as a lifeguard. Such certificate shall be kept 66
on file at the place of employment and shall be available at all times 67
during business hours to the inspectors of the Labor Department. 68
(3) The Labor Commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance 69
with the provisions of chapter 54, as the commissioner deems necessary 70
to implement the provisions of this subsection. 71
[(c)] (d) No minor under the age of eighteen years shall be employed 72
or permitted to work in any occupation which has been or shall be 73
pronounced hazardous to health by the Department of Public Health or 74
pronounced hazardous in other respects by the Labor Department. This 75
section shall not apply to (1) the employment or enrollment of minors 76
sixteen years of age and over as registered apprentices or registered 77
preapprentices in a bona fide registered apprenticeship program or 78
registered preapprenticeship program in manufacturing or mechanical 79
establishments, technical education and career schools or public 80
schools, (2) the employment of such minors who have graduated from 81 Raised Bill No. 410
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a public or private secondary or technical education and career school 82
in any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, (3) the employment 83
of such minors who are participating in a manufacturing or mechanical 84
internship, registered apprenticeship or registered preapprenticeship in 85
any manufacturing or mechanical establishment, [or] (4) the enrollment 86
of such minors in a cooperative work-study program approved by the 87
Commissioner of Education and the Labor Commissioner or in a 88
program established pursuant to section 10-20a. No provision of this 89
section shall apply to agricultural employment, domestic service, street 90
trades or the distribution of newspapers, or (5) the participation of such 91
minors in a paid internship approved by the Commissioner of 92
Education and the Labor Commissioner. For purposes of this 93
subsection, (A) "internship" means supervised practical training of a 94
high school student or recent high school graduate that is comprised of 95
curriculum and workplace standards approved by the Department of 96
Education and the Labor Department, (B) "cooperative work-study 97
program" means a program of vocational education, approved by the 98
Commissioner of Education and the Labor Commissioner, for persons 99
who, through a cooperative arrangement between the school and 100
employers, receive instruction, including required academic courses 101
and related vocational instruction by alternation of study in school with 102
a job in any occupational field, provided these two experiences are 103
planned and supervised by the school and employers so that each 104
contributes to the student's education and to his employability. Work 105
periods and school attendance may be on alternate half days, full days, 106
weeks or other periods of time in fulfilling the cooperative work-study 107
program, (C) "apprentice" means a person (i) employed under a written 108
agreement to work at and learn a specific trade, and (ii) registered with 109
the Labor Department, and (D) "preapprentice" means a person, student 110
or minor (i) employed under a written agreement with an 111
apprenticeship sponsor for a term of training and employment not 112
exceeding two thousand hours or twenty-four months in duration, and 113
(ii) registered with the Labor Department. 114
[(d)] (e) Each person who employs a minor under the age of eighteen 115 Raised Bill No. 410
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years shall obtain a certificate stating the age of such minor as provided 116
in section 10-193, as amended by this act. Such certificates shall be kept 117
on file at the place of employment and shall be available at all times 118
during business hours to the inspectors of the Labor Department. 119
Sec. 2. Section 31-23a of the general statutes is repealed and the 120
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 121
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and [(b)] (c) of 122
section 31-23, as amended by this act, in effect prior to June 2, 2008, any 123
minor who reached the age of fifteen and was employed, on or after 124
October 1, 2007, as a bagger, cashier or stock clerk shall be deemed to 125
have been lawfully employed, provided such employment was in 126
accordance with the provisions of subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, 127
of subdivision (1) of subsection [(b)] (c) of said section 31-23. Any person 128
who employed such minor shall not be deemed (1) to have violated the 129
provisions of subsection (a) of said section 31-23, or (2) subject to the 130
penalties of section 31-15a or 31-69a. 131
Sec. 3. Section 31-24 of the general statutes is repealed and the 132
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 133
Except in technical education and career schools or in public schools 134
teaching manual training, no child under sixteen years of age shall be 135
employed or permitted to work in adjusting or assisting in adjusting any 136
belt upon any machine, or in oiling or assisting in oiling, wiping or 137
cleaning machinery, while power is attached, or in preparing any 138
composition in which dangerous acids are used, or in soldering, or in 139
the manufacture or packing of paints, dry colors or red or white lead, or 140
in the manufacture, packing or storing of gun or blasting powder, 141
dynamite, nitroglycerine compounds, safety fuses in the raw or 142
unvarnished state, electric fuses for blasting purposes or any other 143
explosive, or in the manufacture or use of any dangerous or poisonous 144
gas or dye, or composition of lye in which the quantity thereof is 145
injurious to health, or upon any scaffolding, or in any heavy work in any 146
building trade or in any tunnel, mine or quarry, or in operating or 147 Raised Bill No. 410
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assisting to operate any emery, stone or buffing wheel; and, except as 148
otherwise provided in subsection [(b)] (c) of section 31-23, as amended 149
by this act, no child under sixteen years of age shall be employed or 150
permitted to work in any capacity requiring such child to stand 151
continuously. 152
Sec. 4. Section 10-193 of the 2024 supplement to the general statutes 153
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 154
October 1, 2024): 155
(a) The superintendent of schools of any local or regional board of 156
education, or an agent designated by such superintendent, or the 157
supervisory agent of a nonpublic school shall, upon application and in 158
accordance with procedures established by the State Board of 159
Education, furnish, to any person desiring to employ a minor under the 160
age of eighteen years (1) in any manufacturing, mechanical or theatrical 161
industry, restaurant or public dining room, or in any bowling alley, 162
shoe-shining establishment or barber shop, a certificate showing that 163
such minor is sixteen years of age or older, (2) in any mercantile 164
establishment, as a staff member at a youth camp, as defined in section 165
19a-420, who will not be employed by a municipality, or as a lifeguard 166
who will not be employed by a municipality, a certificate showing that 167
such minor is fifteen years of age or older, [and] (3) at any municipal or 168
private golf course, a certificate showing that such minor is fourteen 169
years of age or older, and (4) in a paid internship, a certificate showing 170
that such minor is fifteen years of age or older or will reach the age of 171
fifteen during the school year in which such minor is participating in 172
such paid internship. 173
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be construed to 174
apply to any person desiring to employ a minor through a youth 175
development program of a regional workforce development board. 176
(c) The State Board of Education shall establish procedures governing 177
the issuance of such certificates. 178 Raised Bill No. 410
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 31-23
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 31-23a
Sec. 3 October 1, 2024 31-24
Sec. 4 October 1, 2024 10-193
Statement of Purpose:
To expand access to paid internships for high school students.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]