CHAPTER 119
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1
CHAPTER 119
( SB 128 )
AN ACT relating to youth employment programs.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 339.210 TO 339.450 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Department" means the Department of Workplace Standards;
(b) "Nonprofit organization" means an organization that:
1. Is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
and
2. Is not an enterprise under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended;
(c) "Student attendance day" has the same meaning as in KRS 158.070; and
(d) "Work week" means seven (7) consecutive twenty-four (24) hour periods, as established by the
employer.
(2) (a) A nonprofit organization may submit an application to the department to create a work program that
allows a minor who is twelve (12) or thirteen (13) years of age to work for the nonprofit organization
under this section.
(b) Any work program established by a nonprofit organization under this section shall exist to provide
minors with life skills and employment skills, and the primary benefit of the work performed shall be
for the vocational and educational value to the minors.
(c) Hourly wages paid to minors participating in a work program under this section shall comply with
the wage requirements of KRS 337.275.
(3) If approved by the department, participation in a work program established under this section shall:
(a) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, not occur on a student attendance day;
(b) Not exceed three (3) hours per day;
(c) Except as outlined in subsection (5) of this section, occur only between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7
p.m.;
(d) Not exceed eighteen (18) hours per work week;
(e) Be subject to the lunch and rest period provisions of KRS 339.270; and the recordkeeping
requirements of KRS 339.400;
(f) Not involve activities that engage in interstate commerce or the production of goods for interstate
commerce, as defined in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended;
(g) Be limited to the nonhazardous occupations allowed for minors fourteen (14) and fifteen (15) years
of age as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor under provisions of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as amended; and
(h) Not occur in, about, or in connection with any establishment where alcoholic beverages are distilled,
rectified, compounded, brewed, manufactured, bottled, sold for consumption, or dispensed.
(4) Prior to participating in a work program under this section, the parent or guardian of a minor shall sign a
form prescribed by the department giving permission for the minor to participate in the program.
(5) A nonprofit organization that is currently operating or that has previously operated a work program under
this section may submit an application to the department, along with any other documentation that the
department may require, to allow a minor to work under this section on student attendance days. Work by a
minor under this subsection shall not occur during regular school hours. It shall be the burden of the ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2
nonprofit organization to prove to the department the necessity, benefit, and worthiness of operating a work
program on student attendance days. A minor shall not be allowed to work on a student attendance day if
the nonprofit organization is aware that the minor missed school that day.
(6) The department shall be the sole decision maker in the approval or denial of applications for work
programs under this section. The department shall evaluate the work program of each applicant for
compliance with subsection (2)(b) of this section. A nonprofit organization that has been denied by the
department shall have the right to a hearing conducted in accordance with KRS Chapter 13B, if a written
request for a hearing is made within ten (10) days after service of notice of the denial.
(7) A nonprofit organization may allow a minor who has passed his or her fourteenth birthday but is under
eighteen (18) years of age to also participate in any work program established under this section. Minors
participating in a work program under this subsection shall be subject to the gainful occupation standards
established in this chapter.
(8) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to
implement this section and to properly protect the life, health, safety, and welfare of minors, including but
not limited to establishing the criteria for work program approval and documentation required by a
nonprofit organization for application. The department may consider sex, age, premises of employment,
substances to be worked with, machinery to be operated, nature of the employment, and other pertinent
factors. In promulgating administrative regulations, the department may mirror similar protections as
outlined for minors fourteen (14) years of age or older by the United States Secretary of Labor under the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended. For minors twelve (12) or thirteen (13) years of age, the
administrative regulations shall have no effect on the definition of "gainful occupation" in Section 2 of this
Act.
Section 2. KRS 339.210 is amended to read as follows:
As used in KRS 339.210[339.220] to 339.450:
(1) "Gainful occupation" does not include employment in farm work or in domestic service in a private home, nor
occasional employment by a householder in connection with the household and not in connection with the
householder's business or occupation, such as grass cutting or carrying ashes or similar casual domestic tasks,
nor the delivery of newspapers on regularly scheduled routes, nor to employment as an actor or performer in
motion pictures or theatrical productions, or in radio or television productions, nor to employment of minors
by their own parents or persons standing in the place of a parent in occupations other than manufacturing,
mining, or those found by the commissioner of the Department of Workplace Standards to be particularly
hazardous;[ and]
(2) "Gainful occupation" does not include a minor who is at least twelve (12) years of age working as a referee,
umpire, or official in a youth athletic program, subject to the following:
(a) The minor is a referee, umpire, or official for an age bracket younger than the minor's own age;
(b) An adult representing the youth athletic program is on the premises where the athletic event is
occurring; and
(c) The minor has on file with the person responsible for assigning the minor to officiate for the youth
athletic program the original or a copy of a written consent to the child's employment as a referee,
umpire, or official signed by the minor's parent or guardian; and
(3) "Gainful occupation" does not include participation in a work program established under Section 1 of this
Act by a minor who is twelve (12) or thirteen (13) years of age.
Became law without Governor's signature April 9, 2024.