For many businesses in the service industry, employing minors is a good way to maintain shift coverage, especially during holidays or summers when students are on break. If your business employs minors, it’s imperative you know and follow all laws and guidelines related to underage employees.
The US Fair Labor and Standards Act
The Fair Labor and Standards Act (FSLA) was initially signed into law in 1938 to protect all workers. Specifically related to minors, the law ensures that they are safe and their employment does not jeopardize their health or education. The FSLA has been periodically updated over the years to establish regulations such as minimum wage, rates for overtime pay, hours employees can work, and youth employment standards.
Considerations When Employing Minors
In addition to federal regulations, be sure you’re aware of any state and local regulations that apply to your location. Employing minors is a great option when experiencing staffing shortages, but it won’t be worth it to you if you end up being fined for not following all applicable labor laws. Here are some items in particular that you should be watching for:
- Age – Can employees in your area or industry start work at 14 or 15?
- Hours to work – Maximum hours minors can work may vary according to their age, weeknight vs. weekend, and summer vs. winter.
- Work restrictions – Details for what tasks minors can and cannot perform vary by industry. Make sure you’ve done your research and know what your younger employees are allowed to do.
- Documentation/work permits – In many areas minors are required to obtain work permits from their schools or other local authorities prior to being eligible to work. Research the regulations in your area and make sure you’re properly maintaining any required legal documentation for your minor employees.
Helping Younger Employees Succeed
Your responsibility for employing minors doesn’t end with simply following federal and local laws. Younger employees need to be treated differently than more experienced workers. If you’re going to hire them, you have to adjust your management approach to help them succeed. Follow these management tips when employing minors:
- Train and retrain: Some younger employees only work seasonally. When they return to work you cannot assume they remember all their safety training, so be sure to refresh their training on the basics.
- Use the “buddy system”: Assign mentors for your younger employees so they have a point of contact for all their questions. Mentors will also help them develop relationships with coworkers and increase morale.
- Don’t work them too hard: Just because the law may say you can schedule your younger employees for 20 hours a week doesn’t mean you should. A lot of teenagers have busy schedules aside from work, and exhausted employees do not benefit your organization.
- Be specific: Teens tend to have shorter attention spans than older employees, and their lack of experience means they haven’t had a chance to develop a strong work ethic. Make sure you’re being clear on your expectations and don’t get frustrated if you have to remind them.
- Model the behavior you expect: Take advantage of pairing younger employees with more experienced ones to role play situations and demonstrate proper responses and behavior as part of a blended learning strategy. Role playing situations and seeing how other employees respond will help younger employees react to situations appropriately.
Create Custom Learning Paths for Training All Ages
Developing custom learning paths with a learning management system will allow you to customize training based on job role, age group, and any number of factors you deem relevant. You can also automatically assign training and refresher training based on schedules you set up without having to worry about missing recertification deadlines.
Explore Custom Learning Paths with trainingGrid®
The trainingGrid® learning management system delivers online training and blended learning strategies through learning paths that are customized for your organization. Its intuitive design makes learning management simple and allows employees to begin training with just a click. This flexible system comes with a variety of robust features customizable to fit your needs in addition to built-in reporting and certification tools that track your compliance documentation.
