The Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee recently killed a bill that would have abolished minimum wage protections for high school students and limited their income to a minimum of $5.25 an hour in the first six months. The bill also would have eliminated any cap on the number of hours a 16-year-old could work on a school day.
We applaud committee members for rejecting this unfair proposal that treats young people like second-class citizens.
The Journal Tribune printed a letter to the editor recently from Noah Berube, a 17-year-old from Biddeford, who made the case for why such proposals have no place in Maine’s statutes.
He said in part, “Equal work requires equal pay. It’s a fair concept, an American concept, and most importantly, a Maine concept. Paul LePage wants to do away with this by letting employers pay early employees under the age of 20 less money for a significant 180 days. More than ever, it seems LePage and I are in different states, that somehow my Maine is not Paul LePage’s Maine. Gov. LePage’s Maine is one where young adults are not treated equally. In his Maine, $5.25 is enough to pay people who deserve $7.25.”
Berube is right.
The work of a 16-year-old should be valued the same as the work of a 26-year-old or a 66-year-old. Changing the rules for young people teaches them that they are not valued in today’s workplace and that it is okay to have disparate rules for different groups of people.
Many students hold summer jobs to save up for college or a car, and if they are only able to work during their summer break they would have only been paid $5.25 an hour for the same work others are doing who just happen to be older.
Another facet of the bill would have eliminated restrictions on how many hours students are allowed to work. Such rules send the message that school is not as important as work obligations. The bill would have allowed students to work up to 24 hours during the school week, up to six hours on a school day, and keep them working until 11 p.m. on school nights.
While students should have flexibility to work, school should be their priority. It is important that employers recognize young people attend school, and they need to get out of work at a reasonable hour.
Unfortunately, the committee voted in favor of LD 516, which would repeal the limit on hours teenagers who are 17 years old may work.
We hope the legislature will vote against this measure and show young people that both their work and their education is valued in this state. Having laws in place to keep students from being over-worked during the school year, kept too late on school nights, and to ensure they receive equal pay is the only way to make sure young people are protected and valued members of their communities.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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