Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

Protecting young workers

Posted by Jon Elliott on Fri, Apr 07, 2023

Recent enforcement actions provide reminders that young workers are subject to special legal protections – special requirements apply to workers 14-24 and prohibit most employment of even younger people. As an example of these actions, on March 21 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued citations against a Pennsylvania contractor after a 17 year old employee fell off a roof (his employment violated “hazardous occupations” prohibitions). As another example, in November 2022 the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) filed for a nationwide injunction against the nation’s largest food sanitation company (Packers Sanitation Services) after finding 31 children ages 13-17 in “hazardous occupations” including cleaning dangerous powered equipment during overnight shifts.

Read More

Tags: OSHA, DOL, WHD, Young workers