If a minor age 14-17 works six or more hours in a shift, an employer is required to give the minor one or two breaks totaling at least 30 minutes. Hour violations occur when a minor works past the legally defined deadline 
for the minor’s age.
In most cases, minors may not work during school hours, from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., on school days. While 16- and 17-year-olds may work during school hours with written permission from the school, there is no such exemption for 14- and 15-year-olds.
Five East Central Indiana restaurants have been fined within the past year for repeat violations of child labor laws.
The Ponderosa Steakhouse in Portland received the biggest penalty, $2,200, after its third violation in a year of break regulations involving minors.The restaurant also was fined $400 for hour violations involving two minors.
Modern child labor laws serve a dual purpose based on their roots in compulsory education, according to the Indiana Department of Labor. The first is to make certain that young people pursue education, and the second is to protect young workers from suffering injury, illness or death in the workplace.
One East Central Indiana employer received a warning for employing a minor in a hazardous/prohibited occupation following a workplace fatality.
The labor department gives employers an opportunity to protest violations within 30 days of being notified of a fine. Several restaurants received warnings for employing minors during school hours but were not fined because it was a first offense.
For more:Â http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120702/NEWS01/307020015
