Many companies that employ teens may be in violation of federal law, according to a study from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, released yesterday.

"Teens are exposed to multiple hazards, use dangerous equipment despite federal prohibitions and work long hours during the school week," said the report published in the March issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

		U.S. child labor laws AGE: The minimum age for employment in non-agricultural jobs is 14. Exceptions include newspaper delivery, performance/theatrical work, and work for businesses owned by the child's parents. Children ages 10-13 may work in agricultural jobs under certain conditions. HOURS: Children younger than 16 may be employed in non-agricultural jobs for a maximum of 3 hours a day and 18 hours a week when school is in session, 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week when school is not in session. They may not work before 7 a.m. nor after 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when their permissible hours are extended to 9 p.m. Children 16 and older may work unlimited hours. HAZARDS: Workers younger than 18 are prohibited from certain jobs, such as mining, working with explosives or radioactive substances, logging, working with heavy machinery or saws, demolition, roofing and excavation. Source: Fair Labor Standards Act

"They also lack consistent training and adult supervision on the job," it added.

The study surveyed 928 retail and service workers between the ages of 14 and 18 in 2003. The teens reportedly worked an average of 16.2 hours per week during the school year, including almost three times a week after 7 p.m. on school nights and 2.6 nights per week after 9 p.m. Thirty-seven percent of those under 16 reported working after 7 p.m. on a school night, although that is prohibited under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Also, despite federal regulations prohibiting teens under 18 from using dangerous equipment such as slicers, dough mixers, box crushers and paper balers, or serving or selling alcohol in places where it is consumed, 52 percent of the boys and 43 percent of the girls reported having performed a prohibited task.

According to the Department of Labor, which includes 16- to 19-year-olds in its monthly employment statistics, 6.7 million in that group were working or seeking work in January.

James Watta, project coordinator at the Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Labor Relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said some business owners, especially of small businesses such as neighborhood pizza parlors, may not be aware of the laws regarding teen employment.

"Maybe they know about the law and maybe they don't," he said. "How is this communicated to employers who want to do the right thing?"

For employers who know the law, Mr. Watta said that violations may be less a result of bad faith than of economics.

"I think it has to do with cost-effectiveness and convenience," he said. In today's global economy, "everybody is trying to get more for less," making it harder for employers to justify the expense of training that "doesn't necessarily improve production."

"Many teens are performing tasks that are prohibited by current federal child labor laws. Our results also suggest gaps in both safety training and supervision of working teens because approximately one-third of the teens reported not receiving any safety training," the study added. Although more boys reported receiving safety training than girls, they also were more likely to say they worked with less supervision than girls.

Girls were more likely than boys to have jobs that involved handling cash (84 percent vs. 61 percent) while boys were more likely to do physically demanding tasks such as lifting heavy objects (57 percent vs. 22 percent).

For parents who want to make sure their children's employers are in compliance, Mr. Watta suggested that they familiarize themselves with child labor law by visiting the U.S. Department of Labor Web sites www.youthrules.dol.gov.

Parents need to help their children know what to do if they are asked to violate the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Mr. Watta said.

"Parents have to support their kids and teach them that these would be the appropriate times to be insubordinate to an adult, which goes contrary to everything else in their life experience," he said.