Fridays in Minnesota can be a time of anticipation to sneak out early and head up North.  In April…not so much.  Accordingly, I thought it would be fun to start a “Friday Fun Fact” post.  I love practicing law because it’s just that – “practicing”.  I get to learn new things every day, and so why not share some of the interesting and weird facts I’ve learned along the way?

At the federal level, youth worker protections are actually covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and regulated by the Department of Labor’s Child Labor Regulations.  In an earlier post I wrote about paying teens to work in Minnesota, but didn’t get into child labor protections as I want to keep this blog informative about wage and hour laws affecting Minnesota employers.  Though the snow today suggests otherwise, summer is hopefully soon upon us  and teens will be looking for jobs soon (please help us get them out of the house!).  While Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) law and regulations certainly apply to all workers’ safety, you may not realize that youth protection specifically is covered by the FLSA at the federal level (what we all typically just think of as regulating overtime, minimum wages, hours of work, etc.) .  In Minnesota, child labor laws are covered by the Child Labor Standards Act.  Accordingly, if you are trying to determine what job duties a teen can perform this summer – don’t forget about the FLSA – the more restrictive laws will apply!