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If you’re between the ages of 16 and 24, chances are you’ve had some sort of job.
The unemployment rate for youth in that age range was at its lowest — 9.1% — since 1966, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released in July. Youth employment always peaks between April and July, thanks to the rush of high school and college students seeking seasonal work, and because of an influx of recent graduates entering the workforce in a more permanent capacity. This past summer, the youth labor force, as qualified by the BLS, grew 14.9% to a total of 23.3 million.
Regardless of age or employment position, it is important to be aware of your rights as a worker. Your career trajectory, pay, workplace safety, comfort, and overall quality of life depend on it. Andrea Kluger, director of legislation and politics for the Chicago Federation of Labor, and the Department of Labor flagged some areas of contemporary workplace culture where young employees may be the most vulnerable to workers' rights violations. Here are some basics you should know.
1. Stay informed on minimum wage law
“Knowing what the minimum wage is is important,” says Kluger. Since 2009, the federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 per hour; however, all but five states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee) have separate minimum wage laws on the books. When the state — or municipality — minimum wage surpasses that of the federal mandate of $7.25, employees should be compensated with the higher amount, according to the Department of Labor (DOL).
For employees younger than 20 years old, employers are legally allowed to pay a reduced wage of $4.25 per hour for 90 calendar days after the first day of employment. But following that period, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay the full federal minimum wage. That being said, the (FLSA) also allows for some employees — student-learners, full-time students in retail and service sectors, agriculture and higher education included, to be paid a sub-minimum wage. According to the DOL, “individuals whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by a physical or mental disability, including those related to age or injury, for the work to be performed” are also covered in this group.
For workers under 18, however, there may be additional restrictions in place that make it possible for employers to pay less than the highest mandated minimum wage in a given area. In Chicago, for example, “you can be paid 50 cents less than the state minimum wage [$8.25 in Illinois], which would be $7.75, for a youth worker, even though the minimum wage in Chicago is $13,” Kluger says.
“So that's something where I think it's important for people just speak up," she continues. "One thing we talk about a lot [at the Chicago Federation of Labor] is how a lot of youth workers are working to support their families. They're not just trying to earn a few extra bucks for the movies. Their labor should be valued, and not have a different wage at which we've determined it's suitable for younger workers.”
2. Regardless of industry, your workplace should not tolerate sexual harassment
As of July, 25% of employed youth (ages 16 to 24) were employed in the leisure and hospitality industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On September 16, Seattle became the latest city to enact legislation to help protect hotel workers. According to the Seattle Times, the “ordinances restrict the area that workers can be made to clean in a day while requiring hotels to provide workers with emergency panic buttons, help them pay for health care, and retain them during ownership changes.”
Laws like this, in municipalities across the country, are being enacted to protect hotel workers from instances of sexual assault.
“In the light of all the rhetoric around sexual harassment, [the hotel workers’ unions] sort of surveyed their members and found out an overwhelming majority of them have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace,” Kluger says.
In response to instances of hotel guests exposing themselves to hotel staff in enclosed settings, unions across the country are petitioning for the right to portable, wearable panic buttons with the capability to alert security to uncomfortable, dangerous encounters with guests in close quarters, Kluger adds.
In June, New Jersey became the first state to enact this requirement for hotel cleaners statewide, according to NBC News.
Such measures aren’t as practical an option in other industries. It’s important to note that sexual harassment is illegal, whether or not your employer has specific anti-harassment policies or your state, city, or industry at large has enacted certain anti-harassment measures. Bottom line: You should never have to tolerate sexual harassment at work. If you’re harassed by a colleague, boss or customer, and your workplace does not have an anti-harassment policy, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) advises you speak to your supervisor, who should help remedy the issue. The law protects your right to report harassment without fear of retaliation, and if you need to seek support beyond your workplace, you can always file a complaint with the EEOC. Here’s how to file a charge.
3. In some cities, you have a right to a predictable schedule
According to a 2018 report out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chicago School of Labor and Employment Relations, 54% of workers enrolled in school have missed class because of unpredictable work schedules. Business and legislative leaders in a few cities, including Chicago, are working together to pass, or have already passed, predictive scheduling laws to help employees in industries with historically less predictable schedules — in Chicago, for example, this includes building services, health care, hotels, manufacturing, restaurants, retail and warehouse services — better plan their lives around a consistent schedule.
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New York City enacted its “Fair Workweek” law for fast food and retail workers in 2017, and this month the city sued Chipotle in a $1 million lawsuit for allegedly violating “nearly every aspect” of the law, according to The Hill. More than 2,600 workers are poised to receive restitution should the city win its case.
For workers younger than 16, there are federal restrictions in place related to how many hours they’re allowed to work, which fluctuate depending on whether it’s a school day and/or whether school is in session..Those under 18 are also restricted from performing certain jobs deemed hazardous by the secretary of labor. Some states and municipalities have stricter regulations than those of the federal government. In January, the owner of four Subway restaurants in Wausau, Wisconsin, was fined $47,657 in civil penalties for child labor and record-keeping violations of the FLSA, according to a press release from the Department of Labor.
Fourteen- and 15-year-olds were permitted to work more than three hours on school days and more than eight hours on nonschool days, according to the release.
4. Whether you’re in a union or not, be aware of your collective bargaining rights
The right to form a union and engage in collective bargaining is a civil liberty afforded to many American workers, according to the ACLU.
At the federal level, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects most private sector employees’ right to engage in collective bargaining and form unions, helping to protect essential civil liberties such as the right to associate with other coworkers and to openly communicate with coworkers about plans to organize.
“The First Amendment does not protect private sector employees from efforts by their employers to censor speech, and public employees have only very limited protections when discussing workplace issues,” according to the ACLU. “The statutory right to join a union and engage in collective bargaining is therefore necessary to protect basic free speech values.”
While employees in the private sector are protected by the NLRA, government employees at both the local, state, and federal level are excluded from coverage, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
5. Make sure your expenses are reimbursed
“For younger workers who, in today's changing economy, are often expected to remain in contact at all times, beyond the office, remotely, I think one thing that comes up a lot is making sure that all of your expenses are reimbursed,” Kluger says.
While there are limited protections for employee expense reimbursements at the federal level, according to Kluger, some states, like Illinois, have laws that require employees be reimbursed for expenses incurred within the scope of employment, which may include anything from taking the train — or your own car — to and from appointments to taking professional calls on your personal cell phone. Kluger cites these kinds of expenses as the norm in industries like the nonprofit sector and fashion.
“A lot of younger workers are more mobile and working jobs where they're sent all around town sometimes, running errands, picking things up. That can add up,” Kluger says. “A lot of younger workers can even be able to [cover] their commute or their monthly [transit] card by really keeping track of those individual trips.”
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