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