HR0110 – Employment of Minors

HR0110 – Employment of Minors

Topics:

Guidelines	Exceptions
Restricted Occupations	Procedures
Exclusions	Related Policies
Verification of Age

Objective:

To provide guidelines concerning age restrictions and conditions of employment.

Policy:

Guidelines

1. No persons under the age of 16 may be employed by the university.
2. Minors who are 16 or 17 may be employed under the following conditions:
   1. This employment must not interfere with the minor’s health or well-being.
   2. This employment may not be during school hours when the minor is required to attend class.

Restricted Occupations

1. Minors must not be employed in connection with any of the following occupations, activities, or conditions:
   1. In establishments storing explosives or articles containing explosive components
   2. Driving motor vehicles
   3. Operating power-driven woodworking machines
   4. Exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations
   5. Operating elevators and other power-driven hoisting apparatus
   6. Operating power-driven metal forming, punching, and shearing machines
   7. Operating hazardous power-driven bakery machines
   8. Operating circular saws and band saws
   9. Operating packing, processing, or rendering equipment
   10. Operating hazardous power-driven paper products machines
   11. Working in wrecking, demolition, and ship-breaking operations
   12. Working in roofing operations
   13. Working in excavation operations

Exclusions

1. The provisions of this policy shall not apply to any minor who:
   1. has graduated from high school or has the equivalent of a high school diploma; or
   2. is or has been lawfully married, or is a parent; or
   3. is 16 or 17 years of age and not enrolled in school, or is lawfully excused from compulsory school attendance under Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3005.

Copies of documents to support these three exceptions must be in the minor’s personnel record maintained by Human Resources.

Verification of Age

1. Before any minor shall be employed, the university shall obtain from the minor a verification of age by requiring the minor to provide the university with a copy of the minor’s birth certificate, or other available evidence such as a baptismal certificate or passport. A valid verification of age shall be conclusive evidence of the age of the minor to whom it is issued.

Exceptions

Under certain official university programs designed to attract students at an early age to the health sciences or other fields, individuals under the age of 16 may be employed in those educational programs on a term or summer basis with written approval by the human resources officer and the campus or institute chief administrator. All prohibited activities specified in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and those requirements of the state of Tennessee child labor law must be observed.

Related Policies: HR0105 – Employment Status, HR0115 – Employment of Relatives, HR0122 – Employment of University Employees by Other University Personnel