Maple River Education Coalition PAC 1402 Concordia Avenue St. Paul"> Maple River Education Coalition PAC 1402 Concordia Avenue St. Paul, MN 55104 952-361-4931 http://edaction.org Email February 24, 2000  School-to-Work causes liability for businesses A St. Cloud, Minnesota pallet-building business has been fined $58,925 for child labor law violations after an April 1999 accident in which a 17-year-old worker lost an arm. The company is small, and will likely go out of business because of the fines.  The 17-year old says he was applying this job to the School-to-Work (STW) requirements of his school.  So the incident  touched off a debate about the STW program.  Would the child have been at this job had it not been for STW?  Was the STW program in any way involved in this accident?  The child says yes, and the matter is now tied up in court.  Meanwhile the school and the state deny any involvement in bringing on this tragedy through the STW program.  They blame the business.  No doubt that will always be their posture.  At the very least the incident causes us to re-examine how STW adds liabilities to businesses through the hiring of underage workers.  The Department of CFL has published a booklet called, Work-Based Learning, containing 25 pages of legal requirements with which businesses must comply.  These include:  insurance (liability/Workers Comp),  Fair Labor Standards Act (definition, when it does and does not apply, implications to employers, standards and special provisions for employing minors, etc.),  Federal Child Labor Laws,  minimum wage provisions,  agricultural programs,  transportation,  requirements for proof of age,  state and local laws,  waivers to FLSA,  terminology,  resources for understanding the law,  how to get assistance,  how to interpret the laws,  exception to occupational limits, and  certificates needed. Then they add the various mandates from the Americans with Disabilities Act:  public accommodations,  auxiliary aids, and  removing physical barriers.  Discrimination under ADA is also something employers will be liable for. Also, the Federal Family Rights and Privacy Act hold employers accountable for the way they handle information about learners. (I wish this applied to the DCFL!)  Lastly there is Affirmative Action, OSHA medical regulations, and sexual harassment (which may be a special difficulty when young students are involved), which all hold the employer accountable for these young "learners." This is a bureaucratic nightmare and sooner or later trouble arises. Many of the businesses involved in STW are small businesses without the resources to investigate what it means to fully comply.  But when a mistake is made, they will be holding the bag.  The schools and the state will not be liable, because they have "published all of the regulations".  The mistakes will be the "employer's mistakes", and there will be many.  Businesses are being sold this program without their liabilities clearly defined, and many will comply without recognizing the quagmire they are stepping into. (e.g. They didn't go through the proper procedures.  Or they hired the learner directly, not through the school, etc.) Employing children in the adult world of work is a whole new ball game.  Businesses are trusting schools to protect them, but the onus is all on the businesses. For more background on this incident, see the following item: STW Harms Students, Businesses Eagle Forum  February, 2000