Indiana implements youth employment system to replace work permits for minors

Beginning July 1, high schools will no longer be required to coordinate work permits for minors under the age of 18 in Indiana. Instead, employers that have hired five or more minors will register those employees in the Indiana Department of Labor’s new Youth Employment System (YES).

YES launched June 1 to give employers time to set up accounts and begin using the system before the mandate from the Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 409 took effect.

The new system will not impact the state’s work-hour requirement for minors — which requires special permission for those under 18 to work more than eight hours per day or 30 hours per school week — and all employers must still comply with the Teens Work Hour restrictions and Prohibited and Hazardous Occupation restrictions for minors.

“We’ve been communicating about this final and biggest change to employers since early May with a broad outreach effort, and we worked diligently to take the system live on June 1 — which was an entire month earlier than expected,” said Michael Myers, director of the Indiana Department of Labor’s Bureau of Youth Employment in a June 30 press release. “Employers are definitely hearing about it, and have been responding with questions and registering in YES to test drive the system before the law goes fully into effect. So we’ve been off to a good start.”

After a minor's term of employment ends, businesses must remove the minor’s information from the YES active-employee registry within three business days. Employers not using YES may face penalties of up to a $400 fine per infraction beginning July 1.

Schools will continue to have the opportunity to monitor which employers are hiring minor employees in their communities via YES, and can request public information in the system specific to their students.

“This will streamline the hiring process for employers and minors,” Myers said in the press release. “After an employer has set up the business profile, they only need to input the minor’s name, age and hire date. Registering minors only takes about two minutes, and employers can access the registration app via a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.”

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