I SAY SORRY TOO MUCH

I gotchu, bro:

Anyway, Federal Child Labor Laws: (apply to ALL states)

--Children under 14 (13 for agricultural labor) can only be employed by their own parents/guardians

--14-15 year olds are limited to 3 hours per day, 18 hours per week during the school year (up to 8 hours on weekends/holidays), and 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week when school is not in session.

--They are also limited to working 7am-7pm (or 9pm during the summer), and only outside of school hours

--Only a specific list of jobs are permitted for children of this age (relevant to this, they are allowed to reheat food, wash dishes and equipment, and do some limited cooking/food prep such as washing vegetables). Any work outside this list is prohibited.

--There is also a broad list of jobs/duties they are prohibited from (including any work with ladders, or work with powered meat slicers or several types of powered baking equipment)

--Oh, hey, this is interesting! The federal minimum wage for employees under the age of 20 is $4.25 for the first 90 days they hold a job. I wonder how many days fall between the end of the school year and the start of the next. Oh? Just about 90? What an odd coincidence, that this company would be looking to hire children just before the time of year when they can work (a) later hours (b) more hours per week and (c) likely to need to stop before they get shifted to the full minimum wage.

(An entirely different set of rules apply to agricultural work, and for working directly for one's parents or family. There are also some jobs allowed to children under 14. I'm not going into those.)

Now, I'm not opposed to 14 and 15 year olds working appropriate jobs. I babysat at that age, other kids mowed lawns, raked leaves, life guarded at pools, etc.

But there is something a little predatory about this sign, particularly going up now.

And as people have pointed out, kids that age don't know their rights. They don't know the laws. And even if they do, they don't know that the laws are there to *protect* them. I've known plenty of teenagers who think they boss is *doing them a favor* by allowing them to work outside their limited hours, or continue working while clocked out for their lunch break. When I worked as a waitress, my manager suggested this as a way to earn extra tips. Heck, I was almost THIRTY, and you wouldn't believe how many little ways they tried to wriggle around the rules to get a little more work out of me. (Unless you've worked this kind of job, then you'd absolutely believe it.)

Another thing--these jobs are *exhausting.* I've worked manual labor, I've worked in schools, retail, all kinds of jobs, but nothing made me end the day, back throbbing, fling-myself-into-bed tired like working in a restaurant. I don't know what it is, maybe the hectic pace of the busy hours, maybe the way you're expected to be busy every second of your time there, maybe it's the fact that I spent most of each day walking as fast as I could from one end of the building to the other. I don't know. But I wouldn't wish that on any 14-year-old.

So, anyway, I'm looking at this little flyer, and I'm concerned. Not because I don't think a 14-year-old should ever work. But because I'm trying to think why a BK would put out a sign SPECIFICALLY asking for the youngest age they can employ, with NO details suggesting this is a special youth-support or training program, only A FEW WEEKS before summer vacation, and targeted to their PARENTS who, let's face it, are probably eager to get some time away from the kids after the last year.