BILL ANALYSIS �
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