BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1401
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Sandre Swanson, Chair
AB 1401 (Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet
Media Committee) - As Introduced: March 2, 2011
SUBJECT : Employment of minors: entertainment work permits.
SUMMARY : Establishes a program to be administered by the Labor
Commissioner (LC) that would enable a minor's parent or guardian
to obtain a temporary permit for the employment of a minor,
under specified conditions. Also authorizes the LC to collect
and deposit money into the Entertainment Work Permit (EWP) Fund,
which the bill creates, to use the proceeds from the EWP Fund to
pay the costs of administrating the program, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that prior to the employment of a minor under the age
of 16 years, as specified, the LC may issue a temporary permit
authorizing employment of the minor.
2)Declares the purposes of the temporary permit are to:
a) Enable a parent or guardian of the minor to meet the
requirement for a permit,
b) Establish a trust account for the minor, and;
c) Produce the documentation required by the LC for the
issuance of a permit.
3)Establishes the following conditions for the temporary work
permit:
a) A temporary permit shall be valid for a period not to
exceed 10 days from the date of issuance, and;
b) A 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
pursuant to Labor Code Section 1308.5, or a temporary
permit pursuant to this section for employment of the
minor.
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4)Requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) to
prepare and make available on its Internet Web site the
application form for a temporary permit.
5)Requires an applicant for a temporary permit to submit a
completed application and application fee online to DLSE.
6)Requires upon receipt of the completed application and fee,
DLSE to immediately issue a temporary permit.
7)Creates the EWP Fund in the State Treasury.
8)Directs the LC to deposit all fees for temporary permits
received into the fund.
9)Provides that the funds deposited in the EWP Fund shall be
available to the LC, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
pay for the costs of administration of the online temporary
minor's EWP program.
10)Allows the LC to set forth the fee in an amount sufficient to
pay for these costs, not to exceed $50.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW :
1)Regulates the employment of minors in the United States under
the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) but the FLSA
provides an exception for "any child employed as an actor or
performer in motion pictures or theatrical productions, or in
radio or television productions." (29, U.S.C. Section 212, et
seq).
EXISTING STATE LAW :
1)Requires the written consent of the LC for the employment of a
minor in the entertainment industry, as specified. (Labor Code
section 1308.5)
2)Requires an entertainment work permit to be obtained from the
LC for a minor in order for them to be employed in the
entertainment industry.
3)States that all minors less than 18 years of age, with limited
exceptions, employed in the state of California must have a
permit to work and their employers must have a permit to
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employ minors, as specified.
4)Provides that employers must keep on file all Permits to
Employ and Work. Records must be open at all times for
inspection by school authorities and officers of the DLSE.
(Labor Code Section 1299; Education Code Sections 49161,
49164, and 49181).
5)Provides that failure to produce Permits to Work or to Employ
is prima facie evidence of the illegal employment of minors,
and subjects the employer to a fine. (Labor Code Sections
1288 and 1304; Education Code Section 49181).
6)Provides that once written consent is given by the LC, as
specified, that consent shall be void after the expiration of
10 business days from the date the written consent was granted
unless it is attached to a true and correct copy as evidence
that a "Coogan Trust Account" has been established on behalf
of the minor and enforcement shall be done by the LC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author's statement, "Child
performers must have an EWP issued by the LC in order to be
employed in California. However, under the current system,
there is no way to obtain a same day work permit. Instead, a
paper application must be presented to the LC's office, and a
work permit is mailed back to the applicant. This process takes
up to two weeks to complete. The delay in obtaining a permit
can deny some child performers the ability to work."
"In order to avoid this situation, parents of child performers
often will obtain an EWP prior to even auditioning their child
for a job. This results in an inefficient and expensive work
volume for the LC's office - which is vastly larger than the
pool of actual children working in the industry in need of a
permit." The LC reports issuing from 60-70,000 EWPs annually.
The author also states, "There is an additional important
problem with the existing permit process which subverts
legislative intent to protect the financial assets of working
children. Through a provision in law known as the Coogan Act, a
blocked trust bank account must be established for all children
working in the entertainment field. These provisions of the
Family Code are only enforced through the LC's EWPs."
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"Under current law, the existing permits expire in ten days,
unless proof that a Coogan blocked trust account exists.
However, once a child begins to work, no one ever revisits the
permit to verify that a Coogan account exists. Because the
Coogan Act is written into the Family Code, the enforcers of the
LC's office do not follow up on this important child labor
provision."
"This bill will solve both of these issues through the creation
of a same-day online permit system for EWPs for minors.
Finally, the author points out that, "Under this legislation
parents/guardians would be able to apply online for their child
performer's first permit for a slight fee, only once their child
actually obtained employment. This would prevent the waste of
time and money that the current system encourages. The online
permit would only be valid for ten days, in order to allow the
applicant time to gather the required documentation, including
establishing a Coogan bank account. All permit renewals would
be processed through the mail only and would continue to be
free."
Please see the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet
Media Committee analysis for detailed background and historical
information.
PRIOR AND RELATED LEGISLATION :
AB 2032 (Davis) of 2009, which was vetoed by the Governor, would
have levied a fee to fund the administration of permits for
minors in the entertainment industry, as well as to fund
enforcement of working conditions for minors in the industry.
AB 402 (Davis) of 2009 would have required a $50 fee be
submitted at the time when a minor applies for an Entertainment
Work Permit (EWP) and directed the LC to collect and deposit the
money into a special fund for the administration and enforcement
of EWPs for minors, as provided. AB 402 was vetoed by the
Governor.
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 TEN days,
unless a Coogan Trust Account has been established.
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SB 1162 (Burton), Chapter 940, Statutes of 1999, made
significant changes to the Coogan law.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lorie Erickson / L. & E. / (916)
319-2091