BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations Ted W. Lieu, Chair Date of Hearing: June 13, 2012 20011-2012 Regular Session Consultant: Martha Gutierrez Fiscal:Yes Urgency: No Bill No: AB 2396 Author: Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media As Introduced/Amended: February 24, 2012 SUBJECT Employment of infants: entertainment industry KEY ISSUE Should a doctor's permission be obtained and confirmed prior to receiving a temporary work permit for infants to work on a motion picture set? PURPOSE To specify that a temporary work permit may not be issued for an infant 15 days to one month old until the doctor's permission is obtained and confirmed. ANALYSIS Existing law regulates the employment of minors in the entertainment industry and requires the written consent of the Labor Commissioner for a minor under the age of 16 to take part in certain types of employment. (Labor Code § 1308.10) Existing law establishes a program to be administered by the Labor Commissioner that enables a minor parent or guardian, prior to the first employment of a minor performer and under specified conditions, to obtain a temporary permit for the employment of a minor. (Labor Code § 1308.5) Existing law prohibits the employment on a motion picture set or location of an infant under the age of one month unless a prescribed certification is made by a physician and surgeon who is board-certified in pediatrics. Specifically that an infant from 15 days to one month old can obtain a temporary work permit for the infant to work on a motion picture set. In order for the infant to be employed on a motion picture set a licensed physician and surgeon who is board certified in pediatrics must provide written certification that the infant is in his or her medical opinion, the infant was carried to full term, was normal birth weight, is physically capable of handling the stress of film making, and the infant's lungs, eyes, heart and immune system are sufficiently developed to withstand the potential risks. (Labor Code § 1308.8) Existing law states that any parent, guardian, or employer of a minor, and any officer or agent of an employer of a minor, who directly or indirectly violates subdivision (a), or who causes or suffers a violation of subdivision (a), with respect to that minor, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) nor more than five thousand dollars($5,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 60days, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (Labor Code § 1308.8) This Bill would specify that prior to obtaining a temporary work permit, the parent or guardian of an infant 15 days to one month old, must obtain the medical certification of a physician as currently required by law, but would clarify that a work permit may not be issued until the doctors permission has been obtained and confirmed. This Bill would make a technical change to the provisions governing infant work permits to clarify that monies collected from the temporary permit filling fee be deposited into the correctly referenced Entertainment Work Permit Fund. COMMENTS Hearing Date: June 13, 2011 AB 2396 Consultant: Martha Gutierrez Page 2 Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations 1. Need for this bill? Under existing law, the parents of an infant from 15 days to one month old are required to obtain a temporary work permit for the infant to work on a motion picture set. In order for the infant to be employed on a motion picture set a licensed physician and or surgeon who is board certified in pediatrics has to examine and sign off certifying that the infant is in good health and is able to work on a motion picture set. This bill would additionally require that the parent or guardian of the infant obtain this medical certification prior to a temporary work permit being issued. A temporary permit shall not be issued until this requirement is met. 2. Proponent Arguments : According to the author, this bill would clarify that prior to obtaining a temporary work permit, infants from 15 days to one moth must obtain the medical certification contained in Labor Code Section 1308.(8(a), and a permit may not be issued until the doctor's permission is obtained and confirmed. The author believes that this will ensure that the child's health is everyone's first priority. 3. Opponent Arguments : None received. 4. Prior Legislation : AB 1401 (Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media), of 2011: Chaptered This bill established a program administered by the Labor Commissioner that would enable a minor's parent or guardian, prior to the first employment of the minor performer, to obtain a temporary permit for the employment of a minor to work in the entertainment field. It also created the Entertainment Work Permit Fund into which would be deposited an application fee that would be required for the issuance of a temporary permit. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the proceeds from this fund are to be used to pay the cost of Hearing Date: June 13, 2011 AB 2396 Consultant: Martha Gutierrez Page 3 Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations administering the temporary minor's entertainment work permit program. The bill also authorized the Labor Commissioner, on a one-time basis, to borrow and repay up to $250,000 from the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund to the Entertainment Work Permit Fund to pay for startup costs incurred in the creation of the program. SUPPORT None received OPPOSITION None received Hearing Date: June 13, 2011 AB 2396 Consultant: Martha Gutierrez Page 4 Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations