Chapter
391
2005 -- H 5650 AS AMENDED
Enacted 07/19/05
A N A C T
RELATING TO
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Introduced By: Representatives Moura, Slater, Diaz, and McCauley
Date Introduced: February 16, 2005
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 28-3-6, 28-3-9, 28-3-15 and 28-3-20 of the General Laws in
Chapter
28-3 entitled "Employment of Women and Children" are hereby amended
to read as
follows:
28-3-6.
Certificates and permits kept by employer. -- All certificates of age
and
permits
required by this chapter relating to the qualification of children employed in
any factory,
or
manufacturing, or business establishment coming under the provisions of this chapter,
shall be
kept by
the employer at the place where the child is employed, and shall be shown to
the
compliance
inspectors provided for by chapter 20 of this title, or either or any of them,
on
demand
by the inspector or inspectors, and the proprietor or manager of any factory or
manufacturing
or business establishment who shall fails to produce or shall
refuses to show to
any
compliance inspector any certificate or permit when demand is made for it,
shall be deemed
guilty
of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less
than ten
dollars
($10.00) nor more than fifty dollars ($50.00). therefore, shall be fined one hundred dollars
($100)
for each offense.
28-3-9.
Employment of minors in hazardous places or occupations. -- No minor
under
sixteen
(16) years of age shall be employed or permitted to work in operations or
operating or
assisting
in operating any of the following machines: circular or bandsaws, wood shapers,
wood
jointers,
planers, sand paper or wood polishing machinery; picker machines or machines
used in
picking
wool, cotton, fur, hair, or any upholstering material; paper lace machines;
burnishing
machines
in any tannery or leather manufactory; job or cylinder printing presses, having
motive
power
other than foot; wood turning or boring machinery; stamping machines used in
sheet metal
or
tinware manufacturing or in washer and nut factories; machines used in making
corrugated
rolls;
steam boilers, dough brakes, or cracker machinery of any description; wire or
iron
straightening
machinery; rolling mill machinery, power punches, shears, or rolls in rubber
manufacturing drop presses; washing, grinding, or mixing machinery;
calender rolls in rubber
manufacturing;
laundering or dry cleaning machinery; or in any capacity in adjusting or
assisting
in
adjusting any belt to any machinery or in oiling or cleaning machinery in
motion; or in any
capacity
in preparing any composition in which dangerous or poisonous acids are used; or
in the
manufacture
or packing of paints, dry colors, or red or white lead; or in dipping, dyeing,
or
packing
matches; or in the manufacture, packing, or storing of powder, dynamite,
nitroglycerine
compounds,
fuses, or other explosives; or in stripping, assorting, manufacturing or
packing
tobacco;
or in a tunnel; or in a pool or billiard room; or upon any railroad, whether
steam or
electric;
or in any foundry; or in any place where dangerous belting or gearing is not
provided
with
proper safeguards; or in any work, occupation, place, or process declared by
the department
of labor
and training to be injurious, dangerous, or hazardous for minors under sixteen
(16) years
of age.
; or on any docks, private or public, warehouses and storage rooms;
dispensing gasoline or
other
types of fuel, checking or changing of oil or other fluids, parking lot
attendants; car washes
either
by hand or machine (includes drying vehicles by hand.)
28-3-15.
Penalty for violation of provisions as to hours. Penalty for violation
of
provisions
of this chapter. -- Every person
who willfully employs or has in his employ or under
his
charge any person in violation of the provisions of sections 28-3-11
-- 28-3-14 this chapter,
and
every parent or guardian who permits any child to be so employed, shall be
fined not
exceeding
twenty one hundred dollars ($20.00)
($100) for each offense.; provided, that any
employer,
superintendent, overseer, or agent who violates any provision of section
28-3-14 shall
be punished
by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one hundred dollars
($100). The certificates of age and the permits to work
required by sections 28-3-2 and 28-3-3
shall be
prima facie evidence of the age of a child upon trial of any person other than
the parent or
guardian
for the violation of sections 28-3-11 -- 28-3-14 this chapter.
28-3-20.
Penalty for violations generally. -- Except as otherwise specifically
provided,
any
person or corporation who: (1) employs a child under sixteen (16) years of age
without the
permit
required by section 28-3-3, (2) makes a false statement in regard to any part
required by
the
certificate, (3) violates any of the provisions of sections 28-3-1 -- 28-3-20,
or suffers or
permits any
child to be employed in violation of their provisions, shall be deemed
guilty of a
misdemeanor
and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred
dollars
($500); fined five hundred dollars
($500) for each offense provided, however, that if a
child
employed in violation of the provisions of sections 28-3-1 -- 28-3-30 is
injured or killed in
the
course of the employment, then this the above fine may be
increased to an amount not
exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000). This ; and,
provided further, however that this section
does not
apply to that portion of section 28-3-6 which fixes the penalty for the refusal
to show to
the
inspector any certificate provided for in that section.
SECTION
2. Sections 28-3-14, 28-3-21, 28-3-22, 28-3-23, 28-3-24, 28-3-25, 28-3-26,
28-3-27,
28-3-28, 28-3-29, 28-3-30 and 28-3-31 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-3
entitled
"Employment
of Women and Children" are hereby repealed.
28-3-14.
Maximum continuous employment without mealtime. -- No man,
woman, or
child
shall be employed for more than six (6) hours at one time in a factory,
workshop,
mechanical,
or mercantile establishment without an interval of at least twenty (20) minutes
for a
meal;
but the man, woman, or child may be so employed for not more than six and
one-half (6
1/2)
hours at one time if the employment ends not later than 1:00 P.M. if he or she
is then
dismissed
from the factory, workshop, mechanical, or mercantile establishment for the
remainder
of
the day he or she may be so employed, or for not more than seven and one-half
(7 1/2) hours at
one
time if he or she is allowed sufficient opportunity for eating a lunch during
the continuance of
the
employment, and if the employment ends not later than 2:00 P.M. and he or she
is then
dismissed
from the factory, workshop, mechanical, or mercantile establishment for the
remainder
of
the day. This section does not apply to any telephone exchange where the
operator during the
night
is not required to operate at the switchboard continuously but is able to sleep
during a
considerable
part of the night.
28-3-21.
Vendors, bootblacks, and scavengers -- Minimum age. -- No boy
under
twelve
(12) years of age and no girl under sixteen (16) years of age shall, in any street
or other
public
place in any city having a population of over forty thousand (40,000)
inhabitants, sell or
offer
for sale any newspaper, magazine, periodical, or any other article, or exercise
the trade of
bootblack
or scavenger.
28-3-22.
Permit and badge required for minor in street occupation. -- No
boy or girl
under
sixteen (16) years of age shall, in any of the places mentioned or described in
section 28-3-
21,
perform any act mentioned or described in that section until a permit and a badge
have been
issued
to him or her by the truant officer of the city or town where he or she
resides; and no boy
or
girl shall in any of the places perform any of the acts provided in section
28-3-21 except while
wearing
the badge in a conspicuous place on his or her clothing.
28-3-23.
Application for permit and badge -- Issuance -- Fee. -- A permit
and badge
shall
be issued only upon the application of the parent, guardian, or other person
having the
custody
of the boy or girl desiring the permit and badge, or, in case the boy or girl
has no parent,
guardian
or custodian, then upon the application of his or her next friend, an adult.
The
application
must be accompanied by a written statement of the principal of the school which
the
boy
or girl is attending, stating that the boy or girl is an attendant at the
school, that he or she is,
in
the opinion of the principal, of the normal development of the average boy of
his or her age
and
physically fit for the employment, and that the principal approves the granting
of the permit
and
badge to the boy or girl. The application and statement shall be placed on file
with the truant
officer
mentioned in section 28-3-22. If satisfied with the application and written
statement of the
principal,
the truant officer shall issue to the applicant a permit and a badge at cost
and the money
received
for the badges shall be paid by the truant officer over to the general
treasurer within one
month
after receipt to be turned in to the treasury of the state.
28-3-24.
Design and contents of permit and badge -- Not transferable. --
The permit
shall
be numbered, shall give a sufficient description to identify the boy or girl,
shall give the date
and place
of birth of the boy or girl, his or her name and address, and the name and
address of his
or
her parents, guardian, custodian, or next friend, and shall state that the
application and
statement
required by section 28-3-23 have been duly filed and examined, and approved by
the
truant
officer issuing the permit. The badge shall be of metal and shall bear the
number of the
permit
and of the year for which it is issued. The permit and badge shall be valid
during one
calendar
year only. All badges shall be furnished by the department of elementary and
secondary
education,
and all badges issued in the same calendar year shall be of the same color,
shape, and
design.
New badges shall be issued annually, and the color or shape of the badges shall
be
changed
materially each year. No boy or girl to whom a permit or badge has been issued
shall
give,
sell, loan, or otherwise transfer the permit or badge to any person.
28-3-25.
Hours for carrying on street occupations by minors. -- No boy or
girl under
sixteen
(16) years of age shall, in any of the places mentioned or described in section
28-3-21,
perform
any of the acts mentioned in that section or described after 9:00 P.M., before
5:00 A.M.,
or,
unless holding an employment certificate, during the hours when the public
schools in the city
or
town in which the child resides are in session.
28-3-26.
Revocation or suspension of permit and badge. -- The permit and
badge of
any
boy or girl who gives, loans, sells, or otherwise transfers either his or her
permit or badge, or
who
violates any of the provisions of sections 28-3-21 -- 28-3-32, or who fails to
comply with all
of
the legal requirements concerning school attendance, or to whom the possession
of a permit
and
badge is, in the opinion of the principal of the school which he or she attends
or of the truant
officer
authorized to issue the permits, detrimental to his or her studies or well
being, may be
revoked
or suspended by the truant officer. Upon the revocation or suspension, the boy
or girl
shall
surrender the revoked or suspended permit and badge. The refusal of any boy or
girl to
surrender
his or her revoked or suspended permit and badge, or the performance by him or
her of
any
of the acts mentioned or described in section 28-3-21, in any of the places
mentioned or
described
in that section, after notice of the revocation or suspension of the permit and
badge
shall
be deemed a violation of sections 28-3-21 -- 28-3-32.
28-3-27.
Report by teachers of detriment by possession of permit and badge. --
The
principal
of each school in which boys and girls under sixteen (16) years of age are
pupils shall
keep a
complete list of all boys and girls in his or her school to whom permits and
badges have
been
issued, and whenever in his or her opinion the possession of the permit and
badge is
detrimental
to the studies or well being of any boy or girl, the principal shall report his
or her
opinion
to the truant officer authorized to revoke the permit and badge of the boy or
girl.
28-3-28.
Enforcement of provisions -- Complaint. -- The truant officers
authorized by
section
28-3-22 to issue permits and badges, probation officers, the principals of all
public
schools,
and police officers shall enforce sections 28-3-21 -- 28-3-32. A complaint of a
violation
of
any of the provisions of those sections may be brought by any person; provided,
however, that
if
the offender is a child then proceedings against the child shall be by petition
to the juvenile
court.
28-3-29.
Warning as to violations. -- Any child who violates any of the
provisions of
sections
28-3-21 -- 28-3-32 shall be warned by an officer whose duty it is to enforce
those
sections;
and the parents, guardian, custodian, or next friend of the child shall also be
warned by
the
officer.
28-3-30.
Penalty for violations as to street occupations. -- Any person
having control
over
a child as parent, guardian, or otherwise who permits or suffers the child to
violate any of the
provisions
of sections 28-3-21 -- 28-3-32 shall, for each offense subsequent to the first
offense, be
fined
not more than five dollars ($5.00).
28-3-31.
Appropriations for badges. -- The general assembly shall
annually appropriate
any
sum that it may deem necessary for the purpose of purchasing the badges
required to be
issued
under sections 28-3-21 -- 28-3-32, and the state controller is authorized and
directed to
draw
his or her order upon the general treasurer for the payment of that sum upon
receipt of
vouchers
approved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education.
SECTION 3. This act shall
take effect upon passage.
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LC00138
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