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Kokua Line
Question: I am a high-school student who has been working part time while going to school. I believe employers need to have guidelines regarding their student employees. Without good guidelines, employers are able to abuse their student employees. Students, know your
rights at workMy employer would often forget to give us our breaks. On school nights I had to work until midnight or even 1 a.m. The effect on my work was very negative. I was always too tired for school. I had no time for homework unless I stayed up until 4 a.m. And I had very few chances for a social life. Shouldn't legislators or employers have guidelines regarding high-school student employees?
Answer: There are strict guidelines, but mainly for younger teen workers. For some reason, even though they are minors, 16- and 17-year-olds are treated more as adults.
In the latter case, a teen and his/her parents should determine working conditions with the employer beforehand.
Under the Hawaii Child Labor Law, workers aged 14 and 15 generally may not work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. However, from June 1 to the day before Labor Day, they can start at 6 a.m. or end at 9 p.m.
After working five continuous hours, they must be given at least a 30-minute meal or rest period.
Also, 14- and 15-year-olds may not work more than eight hours a day (minus breaks), more than six consecutive days or more than 40 hours a week. If they are required to attend school, combined work and school hours for 14- and 15-year-olds cannot exceed 10 hours a day.
It's a much different story for 16- and 17-year-olds, according to Russell Horikawa, intake and certification branch chief for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relation's Enforcement Division.
There are no restrictions on hours worked, or required breaks, except that they cannot work during periods they are legally required to be in school.
Working teens must have "work permits" until they reach 18. The Labor Department will issue the permits only if the minor is not legally required to be in school and if the job is not hazardous. For example, they are not allowed to work in warehouses or construction sites, Horikawa said.
Abuse of young workers really hasn't been a problem here, he said, when asked if there were any move to strengthen guidelines for 16- and 17-year-old workers.
However, labor officials are looking at possibly regulating youth peddling. There is no such regulation now in Hawaii.
"There's a big push by the U.S. Department of Labor and other organizations concerned with child safety" to regulate that activity, Horikawa noted. "On the mainland, it's a big problem."
For more information on child labor laws or to file a complaint, call the labor department's enforcement division, 586-8777. You'll get a recording for various options, but if you stay on long enough, you'll be able to speak to someone.
Auwe
To a very rude driver on Saturday, Sept. 16, at about 4 p.m. While traveling Kailua-bound on the Pali Highway, I slowed for a merging vehicle from Old Pali Road. A middle-aged male with salt-and-pepper hair driving a black Honda Passport was rapidly approaching from the rear. He blew his horn and proceeded to give my family and me the middle finger. This gesture showed a lack of control and a lack of respect for my family and for himself. Exercise patience, not your middle finger. -- No name
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