Back to School, Back to Reality for Employers

You can feel it in the air in the morning. You can taste it with the pumpkin muffins up for sale at Dunkin Donuts. And you can see it in the big piles of school supplies at Staples or : Fall is coming. And so is the start of school.

And even though the "real world" is on a calendar year schedule, most of us are still influenced (particularly if we have kids) through the school year.

But the start of the school year, brings a whole new set of rules for employers in Connecticut. Here are three things to keep in mind now that school is starting.

1) Employers are limited in the hours that they can require 16 and 17 year-old employees to work.  The specific rules are available at the Connecticut Department of Labor's website, but in general, students must stop working around 10 or 11 p.m. (depending on the industry) and are limited to 32 hours per week.  

2) For 14 and 15-year-olds, there are even tighter restrictions.  Typically, the hours are limited to non-school hours before 7 p.m. In addition, there is a limit on 3 hours per day and 18 hours per week for the workers as well.

3) Even beyond that, employers are obligated to get a copy of that student's working papers (typically from the high school) and must verify the minor's age as well. A complete checklist is available here.

Hiring local kids to work is a great way to give the students experience and build loyalty in town.   But be sure to comply with the applicable laws.  The DOL continues to focus on child labor laws and failure to follow the rules can lead to unwarranted publicity -- or worse, fines.