AB 3234, enacted to enhance transparency, requires an employer to post a website link to the child labor findings of any voluntary self-audit on workplace practices, including:

(1) When the audit was conducted (year, month, day, time, and whether conducted on a day or night shift);
(2) The result – i.e., did the employer engage in or support use of child labor (persons under 18);
(3) A copy of any written policies and procedures regarding child employees;
(4) Any exposures to hazardous or unsafe situations for minors;
(5) Work during or outside school hours or night hours; and
(6) A statement that the auditing company is not a government agency and is not authorized to verify compliance with state and federal labor laws or other health and safety regulations.

This new law begs the question of whether a public posting requirement actually discourages employers from engaging in such audits by opening them to government scrutiny, rather than confidentially looking for errors and fixing them.

TAKE-AWAYS:  Employers should follow all child labor laws when hiring minors.  When determining compliance after-the-fact, they should obtain attorney advice to decide if conducting voluntary self-audits of child labor will be more helpful than harmful and the safest way to do so. If an attorney conducts the audit, it may shield the results from public posting as confidential attorney work product and attorney-client privileged communication.

See also:

• Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers: Friday, January 17, 2025, Friday, February 28, 2025: Covering Employment Legal Essentials and New Workplace Laws
• We Offer an Ounce of Prevention: Make a Wage Audit a Priority (February 15, 2024)
• Safe Harbor or Shipwreck?: New U.S. Department of Labor Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program to Voluntarily Address Payroll Errors (March 3, 2018)

Helena Kobrin
December 27, 2024