HOUSE BILL 507
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005
INTRODUCED BY
Thomas E. Swisstack
AN ACT
RELATING TO LABOR; REVISING CHILD LABOR PROVISIONS; MODIFYING AGE REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR APPEAL; CHANGING PENALTIES; EXPANDING JURISDICTION; AMENDING AND REPEALING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 50-6-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-2. CERTIFICATE FOR CHILDREN [FOURTEEN TO] UNDER SIXTEEN [DURING SCHOOL TERM].--No child [over the age of fourteen years and] under the age of sixteen years shall be employed or permitted to labor at any gainful occupation [during the term of the school of the district in which the child resides] unless the child has procured and filed a work permit certificate as [herein] provided for in Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978."
Section 2. Section 50-6-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-3. MAXIMUM HOURS FOR CHILDREN UNDER [FOURTEEN] SIXTEEN.--
A. No child under the age of [fourteen] sixteen years shall be employed or permitted to labor at any gainful occupation for more than [forty-four] forty hours in any one week nor more than eight hours in any one day [except under special circumstances to be determined by the officer who issued the permit; but in no case shall such child be permitted to work more than forty-eight hours in any one week nor shall such child begin work before 7:00 a.m. nor continue after 9:00 p.m. of any one day] when school is not in session.
B. Children under the age of sixteen shall not be employed:
(1) before 7:00 a.m. and after 7:00 p.m. during the calendar school year;
(2) before 7:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m. outside of the calendar school year;
(3) during school hours, except as provided for in work experience and career exploration programs;
(4) more than three hours a day during school days; and
(5) more than eighteen hours a week during school weeks."
Section 3. Section 50-6-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-4. PROHIBITED OCCUPATIONS FOR CHILDREN UNDER SIXTEEN--EXCEPTIONS.--
A. No child under the age of sixteen years shall be employed or permitted to labor at any of the following occupations or in any of the following positions:
(1) on or around belted machines while in motion;
(2) on or around power-driven woodworking machines used for cutting, shaping, forming, surfacing, nailing, stapling, wire stitching, fastening or otherwise assembling, processing or printing wood or veneer;
(3) on or around power-driven hoisting apparatus with the exception that this section shall not prohibit the operation of an automatic elevator [which] that is controlled by pushbuttons making leveling, holding, opening and closing of the car and hoistway doors entirely automatic; [prohibited]
(4) in or about plants, establishments or jobs using, manufacturing or storing explosives or articles containing explosive components;
(5) electronics jobs where the child is exposed to electrical hazards;
(6) in or about any establishment where malt or alcoholic beverages are manufactured, packed, wrapped or bottled;
(7) municipal firefighting whether using volunteers or paid employees;
(8) soliciting door-to-door except for nonprofit organizations;
(9) manufacture of goods for immoral purposes; [nor] or
(10) in any employment dangerous to lives and limbs or injurious to the health or morals of children under the age of sixteen years. [Provided further, that]
B. The provisions of [this Act] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978 shall not apply to:
(1) children engaged in working with equipment in any school or place where [manual training] cooperative education or science is taught while under supervision of an instructor [This provision shall not apply to apprenticeships];
(2) apprentices under the supervision of a journeyman [or instructor];
(3) children under the age of sixteen who are employed by their parents;
(4) children employed as actors or performers in motion pictures, theatrical, radio or television productions; or
(5) children engaged in the sale or delivery of newspapers to the consumer.
C. Additional hazardous occupations not specifically listed in this section will be determined by the state child labor inspector following consultation with the employer who wishes to employ minors under sixteen years of age."
Section 4. Section 50-6-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 8, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-7. [LABOR] WORK PERMIT CERTIFICATES--ISSUANCE--AUTHORIZED OFFICIALS--APPLICATION--CONTENTS--PROOF--COPIES--MAXIMUM TERM.--
A. Work permit certificates shall be issued only by the school superintendents, school principals, designated issuing school officers or the director of the labor and industrial division of the labor department or the director's designee.
B. No work permit certificate shall be issued to any child until satisfactory proof has been furnished that the work in which the child is to engage is not dangerous to the child [nor] or injurious to his health or morals.
C. The application for the work permit certificate [must] shall show that the [child is in good physical health and that the] work to be performed would not result in injury to the health, morals or mental development of the child. Satisfactory proof of the age of the child at the date of the application shall be furnished. In the case of children [over the age of fourteen years and] under the age of sixteen years, any application for the employment of children at any gainful occupation during the session hours of the school of the district in which the child resides shall set forth, in addition to the foregoing, the necessity to the family or the dependents of the child or for his own support of the income to be derived from the employment or labor.
D. Whenever the person authorized to issue the [labor] work permit is satisfied that the provisions of this section have been complied with, he shall issue to the child a [labor] work permit, keeping one copy on file and sending one copy of [this] the permit to the labor and industrial [commission] division of the labor department.
E. No work permit certificate shall be in force without renewal for a longer period than one year from the date of issuance."
Section 5. Section 50-6-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 9, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-8. RENEWAL OF [LABOR] WORK PERMITS.--The officer authorized to issue work permits may renew [any labor] a work permit at the expiration date thereof for a period not exceeding one year upon a satisfactory showing upon the part of the child, [its] the child's parent or guardian or person in loco parentis that the provisions of [Sections 59-6-1 through 59-6-16 NMSA 1953] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978 are being complied with and that such child is in good health. [Such] The extension of time shall be made by [such] the officer writing upon the certificate the following words: "this work permit certificate is extended for a period of ...... days from this date" and by signing his [or her] name [thereto] to the certificate."
Section 6. Section 50-6-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 10, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-9. EMPLOYER'S RECORDS--FORM OF PERMITS.--Whenever [any] a child is employed or permitted to labor at [any] a gainful occupation permitted by the laws of this state, the employer of [such] the child shall preserve on file the [labor] work permit of [such] the child and shall keep posted in a conspicuous place about the premises where [such] the child is employed a list of all children there at work by virtue of [labor] work permits. The form for all [labor] work permits shall be prepared by and shall contain such information concerning the identity of the child as may be prescribed by the labor and industrial [commission] division of the labor department."
Section 7. Section 50-6-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 11, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-10. INSPECTION OF WORK PERMIT CERTIFICATES, RECORDS AND PREMISES BY LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL [COMMISSION] DIVISION OF THE LABOR DEPARTMENT.--All employment certificates and records and the premises where children are employed are subject to inspection by representatives of the labor and industrial [commission] division of the labor department. The [commission] director of the division may, for cause, cancel [any labor] a work permit with the concurrence of the officer issuing the permit but, in case they disagree, the [district] court may cancel the permit on complaint setting forth the grounds therefor under the provisions of [Sections 59-6-1 through 59-6-15 NMSA 1953] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978."
Section 8. Section 50-6-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 13, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-12. PENALTIES [FOR VIOLATION OF ACT].--
A. The director of the labor and industrial division of the labor department or the director's designee or agent, or the state child labor inspector have the power and authority to issue citations and fines to employers who are in violation of any of the provisions of Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978.
B. Whoever employs a child, or whoever having under his control a child, permits [such] the child to be employed in violation of any of the provisions of [Sections 59-6-1 through 59-6-16 NMSA 1953 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978 as determined by the state child labor inspector, shall be cited and shall be fined not less than [twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor] one hundred dollars ($100) and not more than [three hundred dollars ($300)] five thousand dollars ($5,000) and, on default of the payment of such fine, may be sentenced to the county jail for not less than five days nor more than fifteen days. Each violation of [Sections 59-6-1 through 59-6-16 NMSA 1953] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978 shall constitute a separate offense. In the event of a second [conviction] citation within a two-year period of the employer for violation of [Sections 59-6-1 through 59-6-16 NMSA 1953] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978, the court trying the cause shall sentence [such] the employer to the county jail for a period of not less than thirty days; and for any succeeding conviction for the like offense, the court trying the cause shall sentence the employer to imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of not less than one year [nor] and not more than two years.
C. A person may appeal any determinations, finding or citations of the director of the labor and industrial division of the labor department made pursuant to Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978 to the labor and industrial commission sitting as the appeals board, by filing notice of the appeal with the director within fifteen days after the citation has been issued."
Section 9. Section 50-6-13 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 14) is amended to read:
"50-6-13. JURISDICTION.--The [district] magistrate or metropolitan courts are hereby given original jurisdiction in all cases of violations of the provisions of [this act] Chapter 50, Article 6 NMSA 1978. In the event of a third or subsequent conviction, the district court shall have the original jurisdiction."
Section 10. Section 50-6-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Section 15, as amended) is amended to read:
"50-6-14. STATE CHILD LABOR INSPECTOR--APPOINTMENT--DIRECTION--QUALIFICATIONS.--There shall be a "state child labor inspector", appointed by and subject to the [labor commissioner] director of the labor and industrial division of the labor department. The inspector must be qualified by special training and experience for this work and must pass a satisfactory examination given by the [labor commissioner] director of the division for this purpose. The director of the division shall keep the office of the state child labor inspector in Santa Fe. The director may procure all necessary office furniture, appliances and all necessary supplies and incur such other expenses as may be necessary."
Section 11. REPEAL.--Sections 50-6-1, 50-6-6, 50-6-15 and 50-6-16 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1925, Chapter 79, Sections 1 and 7, Laws 1963, Chapter 175, Section 4 and Laws 1959, Chapter 298, Section 1, as amended) are repealed.