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AN ACT relating to youth employment programs. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 339.210 TO 339.450 IS CREATED 3
TO READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) As used in this section: 5
(a) "Department" means the Department of Workplace Standards; 6
(b) "Nonprofit organization" means an organization that: 7
1. Is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the 8
Internal Revenue Code; and 9
2. Is not an enterprise under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as 10
amended; 11
(c) "Student attendance day" has the same meaning as in KRS 158.070; and 12
(d) "Work week" means seven (7) consecutive twenty-four (24) hour periods, as 13
established by the employer. 14
(2) (a) A nonprofit organization may submit an application to the department to 15
create a work program that allows a minor who is twelve (12) or thirteen 16
(13) years of age to work for the nonprofit organization under this section. 17
(b) Any work program established by a nonprofit organization under this 18
section shall exist to provide minors with life skills and employment skills, 19
and the primary benefit of the work performed shall be for the vocational 20
and educational value to the minors. 21
(c) Hourly wages paid to minors participating in a work program under this 22
section shall comply with the wage requirements of KRS 337.275. 23
(3) If approved by the department, participation in a work program established under 24
this section shall: 25
(a) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, not occur on a student 26
attendance day; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 128/GA
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(b) Not exceed three (3) hours per day; 1
(c) Except as outlined in subsection (5) of this section, occur only between the 2
hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.; 3
(d) Not exceed eighteen (18) hours per work week; 4
(e) Be subject to the lunch and rest period provisions of KRS 339.270; and the 5
recordkeeping requirements of KRS 339.400; 6
(f) Not involve activities that engage in interstate commerce or the production 7
of goods for interstate commerce, as defined in the Fair Labor Standards 8
Act of 1938, as amended; 9
(g) Be limited to the nonhazardous occupations allowed for minors fourteen 10
(14) and fifteen (15) years of age as determined by the United States 11
Secretary of Labor under provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 12
1938, as amended; and 13
(h) Not occur in, about, or in connection with any establishment where 14
alcoholic beverages are distilled, rectified, compounded, brewed, 15
manufactured, bottled, sold for consumption, or dispensed. 16
(4) Prior to participating in a work program under this section, the parent or 17
guardian of a minor shall sign a form prescribed by the department giving 18
permission for the minor to participate in the program. 19
(5) A nonprofit organization that is currently operating or that has previously 20
operated a work program under this section may submit an application to the 21
department, along with any other documentation that the department may 22
require, to allow a minor to work under this section on student attendance days. 23
Work by a minor under this subsection shall not occur during regular school 24
hours. It shall be the burden of the nonprofit organization to prove to the 25
department the necessity, benefit, and worthiness of operating a work program on 26
student attendance days. A minor shall not be allowed to work on a student 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 128/GA
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attendance day if the nonprofit organization is aware that the minor missed 1
school that day. 2
(6) The department shall be the sole decision maker in the approval or denial of 3
applications for work programs under this section. The department shall evaluate 4
the work program of each applicant for compliance with subsection (2)(b) of this 5
section. A nonprofit organization that has been denied by the department shall 6
have the right to a hearing conducted in accordance with KRS Chapter 13B, if a 7
written request for a hearing is made within ten (10) days after service of notice 8
of the denial. 9
(7) A nonprofit organization may allow a minor who has passed his or her fourteenth 10
birthday but is under eighteen (18) years of age to also participate in any work 11
program established under this section. Minors participating in a work program 12
under this subsection shall be subject to the gainful occupation standards 13
established in this chapter. 14
(8) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with 15
KRS Chapter 13A to implement this section and to properly protect the life, 16
health, safety, and welfare of minors, including but not limited to establishing the 17
criteria for work program approval and documentation required by a nonprofit 18
organization for application. The department may consider sex, age, premises of 19
employment, substances to be worked with, machinery to be operated, nature of 20
the employment, and other pertinent factors. In promulgating administrative 21
regulations, the department may mirror similar protections as outlined for minors 22
fourteen (14) years of age or older by the United States Secretary of Labor under 23
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended. For minors twelve (12) or 24
thirteen (13) years of age, the administrative regulations shall have no effect on 25
the definition of "gainful occupation" in Section 2 of this Act. 26
Section 2. KRS 339.210 is amended to read as follows: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 128/GA
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As used in KRS 339.210[339.220] to 339.450: 1
(1) "Gainful occupation" does not include employment in farm work or in domestic 2
service in a private home, nor occasional employment by a householder in 3
connection with the household and not in connection with the householder's 4
business or occupation, such as grass cutting or carrying ashes or similar casual 5
domestic tasks, nor the delivery of newspapers on regularly scheduled routes, nor to 6
employment as an actor or performer in motion pictures or theatrical productions, 7
or in radio or television productions, nor to employment of minors by their own 8
parents or persons standing in the place of a parent in occupations other than 9
manufacturing, mining, or those found by the commissioner of the Department of 10
Workplace Standards to be particularly hazardous;[ and] 11
(2) "Gainful occupation" does not include a minor who is at least twelve (12) years of 12
age working as a referee, umpire, or official in a youth athletic program, subject to 13
the following: 14
(a) The minor is a referee, umpire, or official for an age bracket younger than the 15
minor's own age; 16
(b) An adult representing the youth athletic program is on the premises where the 17
athletic event is occurring; and 18
(c) The minor has on file with the person responsible for assigning the minor to 19
officiate for the youth athletic program the original or a copy of a written 20
consent to the child's employment as a referee, umpire, or official signed by 21
the minor's parent or guardian; and 22
(3) "Gainful occupation" does not include participation in a work program 23
established under Section 1 of this Act by a minor who is twelve (12) or thirteen 24
(13) years of age. 25