Revises child labor laws concerning employment of minor in theatrical production.

A2286

ASSEMBLY, No. 2286

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman MARGIE DONLON, M.D.

District 11 (Monmouth)

SYNOPSIS

���� Revises child labor laws concerning employment of
minor in theatrical production.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning child labor laws and amending P.L.1962,
c.91.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 3 of P.L.1962,
c.91 (C.34:2-21.59) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3. a. Upon application of an
employer, bearing the endorsed approval of a parent or guardian of the minor
,
or upon the application of a parent or guardian of the minor,
a permit
authorizing employment of the minor in a theatrical production may be issued
if:

���� (a)�� The minor is in good
health and will not likely be endangered by the working conditions of the
prospective employment as certified by a currently issued statement of a
licensed physician based upon a physical examination which, for minors under
[
8
]

eight

years of age, includes a visual acuity screening if practicable;

���� (b)�� The place of employment
is approved by the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development
and the
period for which the permit is desired is not in excess of
[
3
]

three

months;

���� (c)�� The minor is not
attending public school and the application is for a period other than during
the school summer vacation period, that
[
he
]

the minor

is receiving
[
equivalent
instruction approved by the Department of Education or by the state or county
of his residence if he is a nonresident of New Jersey
]

three hours of schooling per
missed day of school by a tutor provided by the employer, with the tutor having
discretion to permit the minor to choose to engage in one additional hour of
schooling per school day, and up to four additional hours on holidays, which can
be counted toward the three-hour daily schooling requirement on other days in
the same calendar week
;

���� (d)�� The proposed employment
[
will
]

shall

not exceed two shows or productions in a day or a total of eight shows or
productions in any week where the professional employment is reasonably
separable into discrete shows or productions; that the employment
[
will
]

shall

not be for more than
[
6
]

six

days in any week,
[
5
hours in any day or a total of 24 hours, including rehearsal time, in any week
]
,
and
that the minor
[
will
]

shall

not be employed before 7:00 a.m. or after 11:30 p.m. and that
[
school and
theatrical performance time
]

employment
shall not exceed
[
8
hours in any 1 day and that the combined time spent on a set or on call and
performance time shall not exceed a total of eight hours in any one day
]
, for a
minor:

����
(i)��� between six years
old and under nine years old, up to six hours in a day and time on set shall
not exceed eight hours in a day;

���� (
ii)�� between nine years
old and under 16 years old, up to seven hours in a day and time on set shall
not exceed nine hours in a day; and

���� (
iii)� between 16 years old
and under 18 years old to work on set for up to 8 hours a day and time on set
shall not exceed 10 hours in a day
;

���� (e)�� The employment does not
involve a type of prohibited performance as
[
hereinafter
]
defined
in
section 1 of P.L.1962, c.91 (C.34:2-21.57)
; and

���� (f)�� The minor will be under
the direct care and supervision of an adult who is a parent, guardian or a
representative of the employer, named in the application, at all times during
[
his
]

the
minor�s
employment or while living away from home when required as an
incident of such employment.

���� b.��� A permit or certificate,
as the case may be, may be issued by the issuing officer or by the Commissioner
of Labor
and Workforce Development
in cases involving a significant
contribution to the development of the motion picture industry in the State as
determined by the Motion Picture and Television Development Commission.� In
such cases, the commissioner shall also have the authority to alter or amend
the hours of the day but not the total hours in the day during which a minor
may work as set forth in paragraph (d), subsection a. of this section, if such
alteration or amendment will not foreseeably impair the educational
instruction, supervision, health and welfare of the minor, and such an
alteration or amendment is necessary for good reasons shown by the employer.�
The commissioner shall set forth the terms of any alteration or amendment in
the permit or certificate.

���� c.���� During a state of
emergency or public health emergency, any aspect of the authorization requiring
the personal appearance of the minor or the minor's parent or guardian may be
satisfied through the use of audio-visual technology in a manner consistent with
the provisions of subsection b. of section 8 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.8).

����
d.��� Notwithstanding the
time limitations in paragraph (d) of subsection a. of this section, a minor may
be employed between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. on any day preceding
a non-school day.

����
e.���� An application for a
permit authorizing employment of a minor in a theatrical production made by a
parent or guardian of the minor under this section shall be valid for a period
of one year that shall permit a minor to work for multiple employers or on
multiple productions in accordance with the requirements of P.L.1962, c.91
(C.34:2-21.57 et seq.). Nothing in this subsection shall relieve an employer of
a minor from the requirement to provide a tutor for the minor pursuant to
paragraph (d) of subsection a. of this section.

����
f.���� The Department of
Labor and Workforce Development shall establish and maintain a registration
system for permits authorizing employment of a minor in a theatrical production
that is independent from the registration database for minors established in
section 6 of P.L.2022, c.63 (C.34:2-21.1a).� The registration system for
employment of a minor in accordance with this section shall require the parent
or guardian of the minor to create one account, which may also be accessed, but
not operated, by the minor, for purposes of applying for a permit authorizing
the employment of the minor in a theatrical production. �Any person applying
for a permit pursuant to this section shall not also be required to register in
the database established in section 6 of P.L.2022, c.63 (C.34:2-21.1a) if the
sole purpose for the registration is for the permit authorizing the employment
of the minor in a theatrical production because the registration system created
by P.L.��� , c.��� (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be the
exclusive process for obtaining that permit.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.162, s.3)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of
enactment, except that the commissioner shall take any anticipatory
administrative action as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this
act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill revises the child
labor laws concerning the employment of a minor in a theatrical production.�
Specifically, the bill revises the hours in which a minor may work each day on
a production so that a minor:

���� �(1)� between six and under
nine years old may work up to six hours in a day, with time on set not
exceeding eight hours in a day;

���� (2)�� between nine and under
16 years old may work up to seven hours in a day, with time on set not
exceeding nine hours in a day; and

���� (3)�� between 16 years old and
under 18 years old may work on set for up to 8 hours a day, with time on set
not exceeding 10 hours in a day.

���� The bill further provides that
on a day not preceding a school day, a minor may work between the hours of 5:00
a.m. and 12:30 a.m.� The bill creates a registration system independent of the
system for other working minors that allows one account to be shared by a
parent or guardian and a minor and allows a parent or guardian to apply for a
multi-employer or multi-production permit that will be valid for one year. An
employer for a theatrical production may still apply for a single production
permit on behalf of a minor, with the consent of a parent or guardian.

���� The bill changes the schooling
requirements for a minor in a theatrical production to require that the
employer provide a tutor for the minor who will provide schooling to the minor
for three hours per day on a day of employment.� The bill provides that additional
schooling may be permitted under certain circumstances that may count toward
the three-hour daily schooling requirement.

���� This bill is modeled after
child theatrical labor requirements in California and New York, as well as
guidelines established by the Screen Actors Guild.�