Employment of minors: agricultural packing plants.

Existing law prescribes limits on the hours of employment of minors, but authorizes the Labor Commissioner to grant an exemption to employers operating agricultural packing plants for the employment of minors 16 and 17 years of age for up to 10 hours on days when school is not in session, during the peak harvest season. Existing law provides an exception to those provisions for the County of Lake by limiting the employer exemption that may be issued by the Labor Commissioner to the employment of minors, 16 or 17 years of age, who reside in the County of Lake, and only on days when school is not in session, for up to 10 hours a day, as well as for more than 48 hours but not more than 60 hours in a week, upon prior written approval of the Lake County Office of Education. Existing law also requires the Labor Commissioner, prior to issuing the County of Lake exemption or renewing an exemption, to inspect an affected agricultural packing plant. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to file a written report with the Legislature on or before November 1, 2016, describing the general working conditions of minors employed in the agricultural packing industry during the period from March 1, 2011, to October 1, 2016, inclusive, as specified. Existing law further requires an affected employer, on or before March 1 of each year, as a condition of receiving that exemption or a renewal of that exemption, to file a written report to the Labor Commissioner, as specified. These provisions are set to expire on January 1, 2017. This bill would extend the operation of the exception pertaining to the employment of minors in the County of Lake until January 1, 2022. It would additionally require the Labor Commissioner to report to the Legislature on or before November 1, 2020, on the working conditions for the period from October 1, 2016, to October 1, 2020, inclusive.