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Many employers in Maine continue to face a workforce shortage, with an unemployment rate that is significantly lower than the national average and a large number of vacant jobs.
There are no simple solutions to the worker shortage. But illegally employing children should not be part of the mix.
Yet, the Maine Department of Labor has reported an increase in labor law violations involving young workers. The violations include employing youth workers without a work permit, working outside of the hourly restrictions for their age and working in hazardous occupations not allowed under the law.
There’s also been an increase in injuries to youth workers, some of whom were illegally working in dangerous conditions or with dangerous equipment. Reports of teens being hurt on the job in Maine have doubled in the past 10 years, according to state labor officials. In 2022, there were 325 such reports, compared with 162 in 2012, according to Workers’ Compensation data. In the second quarter of 2023, the department completed three separate investigations involving youth workers that were injured while doing prohibited work.
These trends mirror national growth in child labor law violations, even as many states seek to weaken protections for young workers.
With some exceptions, those under 16 cannot drive or operate hazardous power-driven machinery, under Maine ’s labor laws for minors. Those 16 and 17 years old cannot drive on public roads or operate most power-driven machinery, including meat slicers and excavation equipment.
“Most Maine employers comply with the nearly identical state and federal legal restrictions designed to protect the health, safety, and education of our minors,” Michael Roland, director of the state Bureau of Labor Standards, said last week. “However, we have also been observing a marked increase in the numbers of work permits denied, violations of child-protective labor laws, and most disturbingly, in reported injuries to minors in Maine’s workplaces.”
Last year, these injuries included a teen worker who cut off a finger while using a wood splitter while working for a yard care company in Lisbon. A 17-year-old was injured while using a meat slicer at an Arby’s in Presque Isle. And a 16-year-old was injured when they crashed a truck they were driving for a logging company. All of this work was illegal for the teens to perform. The companies faced small fines.
These injuries and violations come as the demand for youth workers has increased. The Department of Labor reported a 75 percent increase in applications for minor work permits from 2017 to 2022.
“Employers in Maine and throughout the country are experiencing a tight labor market, and as a result are relying more heavily on younger workers to meet their workforce needs,” the Department of Labor said last week.
This increased demand and the troubling rise of child labor law violations and increase in youth workplace injuries are a reminder that Maine lawmakers must be cautious about efforts to ease labor laws. Lawmakers this year rejected legislation to allow teenagers to work longer hours. However, lawmakers approved changes in recent years that allow teens to work more hours and to work in previously prohibited positions.
Rather than becoming more lenient, lawmakers should consider changes to strengthen laws, including harsher penalties, to ensure the safety of teen workers.