(a) Except as provided in Sections 1297, 1298, and 1308.7:

(1) An employer shall not employ a minor 15 years of age or younger for more than eight hours in one day of 24 hours, or more than 40 hours in one week, or before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m., except that from June 1 through Labor Day, a minor 15 years of age or younger may be employed for the hours authorized by this section until 9 p.m. in the evening.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), while school is in session, an employer shall not employ a minor 14 or 15 years of age for more than three hours in any schoolday, nor more than 18 hours in any week, nor during school hours, except that a minor enrolled in and employed pursuant to a school-supervised and school-administered work experience and career exploration program may be employed for no more than 23 hours, any portion of which may be during school hours.

(3) An employer shall not employ a minor 16 or 17 years of age for more than eight hours in one day of 24 hours or more than 48 hours in one week, or before 5 a.m., or after 10 p.m. on any day preceding a schoolday. However, a minor 16 or 17 years of age may be employed for the hours authorized by this section during any evening preceding a nonschoolday until 12:30 a.m. of the nonschoolday.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), while school is in session, an employer shall not employ a minor 16 or 17 years of age for more than four hours in any schoolday, except as follows:

(A) The minor is employed in personal attendant occupations, as defined in the Industrial Welfare Commission Minimum Wage Order No. 15 (8 Cal. Code Regs. Sec. 11150), school-approved work experience, or cooperative vocational education programs.

(B) The minor has been issued a permit to work pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 49112 of the Education Code and is employed in accordance with the provisions of that permit.

(b) For purposes of this section, “schoolday” means any day in which a minor is required to attend school for 240 minutes or more.

(c) Any person or the agent or officer thereof, or any parent or guardian, who directly or indirectly violates or causes or suffers the violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 60 days, or both. Any person who willfully violates this section shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or to imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this section, except for an offense committed after the conviction of that person for a prior offense under this chapter.

(d) This section does not apply to any minor employed to deliver newspapers to consumers.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 561, Sec. 165. (AB 1516) Effective January 1, 2018.)