BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 702 (McGuire) - Employment of minors: agricultural packing
plants
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|Version: January 4, 2016 |Policy Vote: L. & I.R. 5 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: January 21, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 702 would extend, until January 1, 2027, a Lake
County-specific exemption of child labor law that allows minors
to work during the peak agricultural season when school is not
in session.
Fiscal
Impact: The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) indicates
that costs to produce the report on working conditions in the
Lake County packing industry would be minor and absorbable.
SB 702 (McGuire) Page 1 of
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Background: Current law limits 16- and 17-year old minors to no more than
an eight-hour work day and a 48 hour work week when school is
not in session; lower limits apply during the school year.
However, the Labor Commissioner is permitted to issue exemptions
allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to work in packing plants for up
to 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week during peak harvest
season when school is not in session. In the case of Lake
County, legislation passed in 1996 allows the Labor Commissioner
to authorize packing plants to employ 16- and 17 year-olds for
up to 10 hours per day and 60 hours per week, if (1) the minors
reside in Lake County, and (2) the Labor Commissioner has
obtained written approval of the Lake County Office of
Education. Authority for this enhanced exemption expires on
January 1, 2017. The exemption has been extended several times.
Additionally, current law requires the Labor Commissioner to
inspect the affected Lake County agricultural packing plants
before issuing exemptions, and also requires the affected
agricultural packing plants to file a written report detailing
the previous year's payroll, including the age and number of
minors employed, and number of hours worked.
Finally, current law also requires the Labor Commissioner within
to issue a written report to the Legislature, by November 2016,
on the general working conditions of minors employed in
agricultural packing plants during the last five years.
Proposed Law:
This bill would (1) extend, until January 1, 2027, a Lake
County-specific exemption of child labor law that allows minors
to work during the peak agricultural season when school is not
in session, and (2) require DIR to issue a written report to the
Legislature on the general working conditions of minors employed
in Lake County agricultural packing plants from October 1, 2016
to October 1, 2026.
SB 702 (McGuire) Page 2 of
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Related
Legislation:
SB 1988 (Thompson), Chapter 1117, Statutes of 1996,
created the exemption for Lake County agricultural plants,
and was originally required to sunset on January 1, 1999.
SB 912 (Chesbro), Chapter 345, Statutes of 2001, added
the inspection and reporting requirements to the
Legislature for the Labor Commissioner, the reporting
requirement to the Labor Commissioner by the agricultural
packing plants, and extended the sunset to January 1, 2005.
SB 319 (Wiggins), Chapter 296, Statutes of 2007 extended
the sunset to January 1, 2012.
AB 1398 (Chesbro), Chapter 489, Statutes of 2011,
extended the sunset to January 1, 2017.
Staff
Comments: As noted above, the exemption for minors working in
Lake County agricultural packing plants was originally enacted
in 1996, in response to a labor shortage that emerged when the
county's other main economic engine, tourism, began to limit the
available summer labor pool.
In 2015, packing plants employed about 40 minors. From
2012-2015, Lake County students have reportedly earned a total
of $256,000.
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SB 702 (McGuire) Page 3 of
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