BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 344
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Date of Hearing: March 19, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, TOURISM, AND
INTERNET MEDIA
Ian C. Calderon, Chair
AB 344 (Calderon) - As Introduced: February 13, 2013
SUBJECT : Representation of minors: permits
SUMMARY : This bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner (LC)
to collect and deposit money into the existing Entertainment
Work Permit (EWP) Fund, and upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to expend the proceeds from this fund to pay the
costs of administrating and enforcing the minor's EWP program.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the LC to impose a fee for the issuance of an EWP
in an amount sufficient to offset the costs of implementing
this section.
2)Restricts the fee amount so as to not exceed fifty dollars
($50).
3)Requires the LC to deposit fees collected under this section
into the EWP Fund.
4)Provides that the funds shall be available to the LC, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to pay for the costs
associated with carrying out its duties under the EWP program.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires written consent of the LC for the employment of a
minor in the entertainment industry, as specified. (Labor
Code Section 1308.5.)
2)Provides that the written consent of the LC expires after ten
days unless a Coogan Trust Account or similar trust account
(collectively, Coogan Trust Account) has been established for
the benefit of the minor. If a trustee's statement evidencing
the establishment of a Coogan Trust Account is attached to the
written consent, then the written consent is valid for six
months. (Labor Code Section 1308.9.)
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3)Existing law defines a "Coogan Trust Account" to mean a trust
account established for the purpose of preserving for the
benefit of a minor the portion of the minor's gross earnings.
(Family Code Section 6753.)
4)Authorizes, prior to the employment of a minor under 16 years
of age, the LC to issue a temporary permit to enable the
parent or guardian of the minor to apply for written consent
for entertainment industry employment of the minor and to
establish a Coogan Trust Account, or similar trust account,
for the benefit of the minor as follows:
a) A temporary permit shall be valid for ten days from the
date of issuance;
b) The temporary permit shall not be issued for the
employment of a minor if the minor's parent or guardian has
previously applied for or been issued a permit by the LC
for employment of the minor. [Labor Code Section
1308.10(a).]
1)Authorizes the EWP Fund (Fund) in the State Treasury and
requires the LC to deposit all fees received for temporary
EWPs into the Fund. The funds deposited in the Fund shall be
available to the LC, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
pay for the costs of administering the online minor's
temporary EWP program. [Labor Code Section 1308.10(b).]
2)Further authorizes the LC to set the fee, not to exceed $50,
for the minor's temporary EWP in an amount sufficient to pay
for the costs associated with the Internet Web site. [Labor
Code Section 1308.109(d).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement of Need for Legislation : According to the
author, "AB 344 is a governmental efficiency bill which will
provide the LC with needed resources to administer and enforce
the Entertainment Work Permit program for minors, while
discouraging wasteful practices.
"Existing law requires that all child performers must have an
EWP issued by the LC in order to be employed in California.
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This is in addition to the work permit issued through schools.
For almost all applicants, a paper application may simply be
mailed to the LC's office, and a work permit is mailed back to
the applicant. There is no fee for this service.
"Currently, it may take up to two weeks for an EWP to be
issued. Therefore, parents of child performers often obtain
an EWP prior to even auditioning for a job, "just in case".
This system results in an inefficient and expensive work
volume for the LC's office - which issues over sixty-thousand
(60,000) EWPs annually; a volume which is vastly larger than
the pool of actual children working in the industry in need of
a permit."
The author states he is working closely with the LC and the
Administration on this measure, and asserts that despite
recent legislation which created a same-day temporary permit
system online, additional resources are needed to provide
enforcement and administrative services for the existing
paper-based EWP. Under AB 1401 parent are able to apply for
their child performer's first permit online, and for a slight
fee capped at $50, have the convenience of an instant
temporary work permit (see Comment below).
The author states that the new fee will not be a burden upon
minors seeking employment in the entertainment fields, saying
it is anticipated that working actors will be able to absorb
the costs of this new fee, and they will also be able to
recoup the expense as a tax write off. He adds, for those
young performers who do not yet have employment, they may
utilize the same day online process once they have a job to
obtain their work permits.
2)Background:
a) Employment of Minors - Entertainment Work Permit :
According to the California State Department of Industrial
Relations Web site, except in limited circumstances defined
in law and summarized in the child labor law booklet, all
minors under 18 years of age employed in the state of
California must have a permit to work. Typically, after an
employer agrees to hire a minor, the minor obtains from his
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or her school a Department of Education form entitled
"Statement of Intent to Employ Minor and Request for Work
Permit". The form must be completed by the minor and the
employer and signed by the minor's parent or guardian and
the employer. After returning the completed and signed
form to the school, school officials may issue the permit
to employ and work.
In addition to the permit to work, minors aged 15 days to
18 years employed in the entertainment industry must have a
permit to work, and employers must have a permit to employ,
both permits being issued by the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement (DLSE). These permits are also
required for minors making phonographic recordings or who
are employed as advertising or photographic models. Permits
are required even when the entertainment is non-commercial
in nature.
There is no fee to obtain an EWP or renewal. The
application for permission to work in the entertainment
industry must be filled out completely and mailed, along
with any required documents and a pre-addressed stamped
envelope, to any office of the DLSE. (Labor Code Section
1308.5.)
The Labor Code further provides, in Section 1308.9(a), that
if the LC provides written consent pursuant to Labor Code
Section 1308.5, for the employment of a minor, that consent
shall be void after the expiration of 10 business days from
the date written consent was granted, unless it is attached
to a true and correct copy of the trustee's statement
evidencing the establishment on behalf of the minor of a
"Coogan Trust Account" pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing
with Section 6750) of Part 3 of Division 11 of the Family
Code. If the written consent is attached to a true and
correct copy of that trustee's statement, the written
consent shall be valid for a six-month period.
In order to prevent persons from simply going from one DLSE
office to the next, to avoid opening a Coogan Trust
Account, the law further provides that a person may not
apply for the written consent of the LC to employ the same
minor under a contract, described in Family Code Section
6750, more than once in any six-month period. If written
consent is issued by the LC for the employment of the same
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minor more than once within any six-month period, the
earliest dated written consent shall be valid and any other
written consent issued during that six-month period shall
be void. [Labor Code Section 1309.9(b).]
b) Temporary Online EWP :
In addition to the EWP process detailed above, prior to the
employment of a minor under the age of 16 years, the LC may
issue a temporary permit authorizing employment of the
minor, if consistent with Labor Code Section 1308.5. This
permit will only be available online, and is subject to a
fee "in an amount sufficient to pay for the costs of the
temporary permit program, but not be more than $50."
The purpose of the temporary permit is to allow the parent
or guardian of a first-time permit applicant opportunity to
establish a trust account for the minor and to produce the
education and medical documentation required by the LC for
the issuance of a minor's EWP. The temporary permit is
valid for 10 days from the date of issuance.
The temporary permit is only available one time, and a
temporary permit will not be issued for the employment of a
minor if the minor's parent or guardian has previously
applied for, or been issued a permit by the LC pursuant to
Labor Code Section 1308.5, neither will a temporary permit
be issued from the DLSE Internet Web site if a previous
temporary permit has been requested or obtained.
3)Prior Related Legislation :
a) AB 1401 (Campos), Chapter 557, Statutes of 2011,
established an Internet Web site permit fee up to $50 and
process for online EWP to be administered by the DLSE for
the immediate issuance of temporary work permits for minors
working in the entertainment industry. It further required
the LC to place fees received for a minor's temporary EWP
into the Fund to pay for the costs of administering of the
Internet Web site created under the bill.
b) AB 2032 (Davis), of the 2009-10 Legislative Session,
would have created a fund for the enforcement of existing
law for minors in the entertainment industry, which, with
Legislative appropriation, would finance the issuance of
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EWPs and the enforcement of working conditions for minors
in the entertainment industry. AB 2032 was vetoed.
c) AB 402 (Davis), of the 2009-10 Legislative Session, was
substantially similar in content to AB 2032 (Davis). AB
402 was vetoed.
d) SB 210 (Burton), Chapter 667, Statutes of 2004, which
was discussed earlier, added the requirement that the LC's
written consent for performances of a minor be limited to
10 days, unless a Coogan Trust Account has been
established.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. /
(916) 319-3450