As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session S. B. No. 50
2025-2026
Senator Schaffer
Cosponsors: Senators Reineke, Lang, Wilkin
A B I LL
To amend sections 3331.02 and 4109.07 of the
Revised Code regarding age and schooling
certificate requirements and work hours for a
person under sixteen years of age.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3331.02 and 4109.07 of the
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3331.02. (A) The superintendent of schools or the
chief administrative officer, as appropriate pursuant to section
3331.01 of the Revised Code, shall not issue an age and
schooling certificate until the superintendent or chief
administrative officer has received, examined, approved, and
filed the following papers duly executed:
(1) The written pledge or promise of the person,
partnership, or corporation to legally employ the child, and for
this purpose work performed by a minor, directly and exclusively
for the benefit of such minor's parent, in the farm home or on
the farm of such parent is legal employment, irrespective of any
contract of employment, or the absence thereof, to permit the
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As Introduced
child to attend school as provided in section 3321.08 of the
Revised Code, and give notice of the nonuse of an age and
schooling certificate within five days from the date of the
child's withdrawal or dismissal from the service of that person,
partnership, or corporation, giving the reasons for such
withdrawal or dismissal;
(2) The child's school record or notification. As used in
this division, a "school record" means documents properly filled
out and signed by the person in charge of the school which the
child last attended, giving the recorded age of the child, the
child's address, standing in studies, rating in conduct, and
attendance in days during the school year of the child's last
attendance; "notification" means the information submitted to
the superintendent by the parent of a child exempt from
attendance at school pursuant to section 3321.042 of the Revised
Code.
(3) Evidence of the age of the child as follows:
(a) A certified copy of an original birth record or a
certification of birth, issued in accordance with Chapter 3705.
of the Revised Code, or by an officer charged with the duty of
recording births in another state or country, shall be
conclusive evidence of the age of the child;
(b) In the absence of such birth record or certification
of birth, a passport, or duly attested transcript thereof,
showing the date and place of birth of the child, filed with a
register of passports at a port of entry of the United States;
or an attested transcript of the certificate of birth or baptism
or other religious record, showing the date and place of birth
of the child, shall be conclusive evidence of the age of the
child;
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(c) In case none of the above proofs of age can be
produced, other documentary evidence, except the affidavit of
the parent, guardian, or custodian, satisfactory to the
superintendent or chief administrative officer may be accepted
in lieu thereof;
(d) In case no documentary proof of age can be procured,
the superintendent or chief administrative officer may receive
and file an application signed by the parent, guardian, or
custodian of the child that a medical certificate be secured to
establish the sufficiency of the age of the child, which
application shall state the alleged age of the child, the place
and date of birth, the child's present residence, and such
further facts as may be of assistance in determining the age of
the child, and shall certify that the person signing the
application is unable to obtain any of the documentary proofs
specified in divisions (A)(3)(a), (b), and (c) of this section;
and if the superintendent or chief administrative officer is
satisfied that a reasonable effort to procure such documentary
proof has been without success such application shall be granted
and the certificate of the school physician or if there be none,
of a physician, a physician assistant, a clinical nurse
specialist, or a certified nurse practitioner employed by the
board of education, that said physician, physician assistant,
clinical nurse specialist, or certified nurse practitioner is
satisfied that the child is above the age required for an age
and schooling certificate as stated in section 3331.01 of the
Revised Code, shall be accepted as sufficient evidence of age.
(4) A certificate, including an athletic certificate of
examination, from a physician licensed pursuant to Chapter 4731.
of the Revised Code, a physician assistant, a clinical nurse
specialist, or a certified nurse practitioner, or from the
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district health commissioner, showing after a thorough
examination that the child is physically fit to be employed in
such occupations as are not prohibited by law for a boy or girl,
as the case may be, under eighteen years of age; but a
certificate with "limited" written, printed, marked, or stamped
thereon may be furnished by such physician, physician assistant,
clinical nurse specialist, or certified nurse practitioner and
accepted by the superintendent or chief administrative officer
in issuing a "limited" age and schooling certificate provided in
section 3331.06 of the Revised Code, showing that the child is
physically fit to be employed in some particular occupation not
prohibited by law for a boy or girl of such child's age, as the
case may be, even if the child's complete physical ability to
engage in such occupation cannot be vouched for.
(5) A minor work hour notification form described in
division (D) of this section that is signed by the child's
parent or legal guardian.
(B)(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this
section, a physical fitness certificate described in division
(A)(4) of this section is valid for purposes of that division
while the child remains employed in job duties of a similar
nature as the job duties for which the child last was issued an
age and schooling certificate. The superintendent or chief
administrative officer who issues an age and schooling
certificate shall determine whether job duties are similar for
purposes of this division.
(2) A "limited" physical fitness certificate described in
division (A)(4) of this section is valid for one year.
(C) The superintendent of schools or the chief
administrative officer shall require a child who resides out of
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this state to file all the information required under division
(A) of this section. The superintendent of schools or the chief
administrative officer shall evaluate the information filed and
determine whether to issue the age and schooling certificate
using the same standards as those the superintendent or officer
uses for in-state children.
(D) The director of commerce shall create, and make
available to the public, a minor work hour notification form
that provides notice of the hours a minor may work in accordance
with section 4109.07 of the Revised Code. The director shall
include on the form a space for a child's parent or legal
guardian to provide a signature. By signing the form, the parent
or guardian acknowledges that the parent or guardian has
received notice of the information on the form.
Sec. 4109.07. (A) No person under sixteen years of age
shall be employed:
(1) During school hours except where specifically
permitted by this chapter;
(2) Before seven a.m.;
(3) After nine p.m. from the first day of June to the
first day of September or during any school holiday of five
school days or more duration , or after ;
(4) After seven p.m. at any other time , except the person
may be employed between seven p.m. and nine p.m. if the person
has approval to do so from the person's parent or legal
guardian;
(4)(5) For more than three hours a day in any school day;
(5)(6) For more than eighteen hours in any week while
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school is in session;
(6)(7) For more than eight hours in any day which is not a
school day;
(7)(8) For more than forty hours in any week that school
is not in session.
(B) No person under sixteen years of age may be employed
more than forty hours in any one week nor during school hours
unless employment is incidental to bona fide programs of
vocational cooperative training, work-study, or other work-
oriented programs with the purpose of educating students, and
the program meets standards established by the department of
education and workforce.
(C) No employer shall employ a minor more than five
consecutive hours without allowing the minor a rest period of at
least thirty minutes. The rest period need not be included in
the computation of the number of hours worked by the minor.
(D) No person sixteen or seventeen years of age who is
required to attend school under Chapter 3321. of the Revised
Code shall be employed:
(1) Before seven a.m. on any day that school is in
session, except such person may be employed after six a.m. if
the person was not employed after eight p.m. the previous night;
(2) After eleven p.m. on any night preceding a day that
school is in session.
(E) As used in this section, "school" refers to either a
school the child actually attends or a school he is required to
attend pursuant to Chapter 3321. of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 3331.02 and 4109.07 of
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the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 166