Youth Employment Updates Preliminary Draft Rule Language
Consultation has concluded
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries’ (L&I) Employment Standards Program is seeking stakeholder feedback on a preliminary draft of the rules it is developing for its Youth Employment Updates rulemaking. The program started its effort by filing a Preproposal Statement of Inquiry (CR-101) on Sep. 2.
L&I is developing and updating its child labor rules in response to three bills that passed during the 2025 legislative session.
Substitute House Bill 1121 (SHB 1121) – Allows minors enrolled in career and technical education programs to work the same number of hours during the school year as during school vacations, so long as the work is performed for an employer participating in the educational program.
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1644 (ESHB 1644) – Requires safety-and-health and child labor consultations for employers seeking certain child labor exceptions. The bill also increases consequences for failure to keep minor workers safe in agricultural and non-agricultural industries.
House Bill 1722 (HB 1722) – Allows minors with certain licenses or certifications issued by the Washington State Department of Health to work around bloodborne pathogens.
L&I is releasing the preliminary draft rules in two batches, with each batch containing updates to both agricultural and non-agricultural child labor rules. Batch A contains the updates necessary to implement the bills, as well as improvements to the rules’ organization and alignment with federal standards.
Batch B contains additional rule provisions to improve the clarity and readability of the rules, the protections for minors, and consistency between the standards for agricultural and non-agricultural industries.
We are asking the public to review the updated draft of the preliminary rule language by 5 p.m. Dec. 12, 2025.
You can submit feedback via the ESRules@Lni.wa.gov email box.
In addition to written comments, L&I is hosting two virtual feedback sessions to share information, respond to questions, and receive comments.
General child labor. You can join the feedback session for general child labor updates at 10 a.m. Dec. 4. The meeting ID is 898 7192 2087 and the passcode is lni.2025. You can also join via phone at +1-253-215-8782 (Meeting ID: 89871922087# Passcode: 93131016#).
Agricultural child labor. You can join the feedback session for agricultural child labor updates at 10 a.m. Dec. 5. The meeting ID is 823 9573 5318 , and the passcode is lni.2025. You can also join via phone at +1-253-215-8782 (Meeting ID: 82395735318# Passcode:65833155#).
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries’ (L&I) Employment Standards Program is seeking stakeholder feedback on a preliminary draft of the rules it is developing for its Youth Employment Updates rulemaking. The program started its effort by filing a Preproposal Statement of Inquiry (CR-101) on Sep. 2.
L&I is developing and updating its child labor rules in response to three bills that passed during the 2025 legislative session.
Substitute House Bill 1121 (SHB 1121) – Allows minors enrolled in career and technical education programs to work the same number of hours during the school year as during school vacations, so long as the work is performed for an employer participating in the educational program.
Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1644 (ESHB 1644) – Requires safety-and-health and child labor consultations for employers seeking certain child labor exceptions. The bill also increases consequences for failure to keep minor workers safe in agricultural and non-agricultural industries.
House Bill 1722 (HB 1722) – Allows minors with certain licenses or certifications issued by the Washington State Department of Health to work around bloodborne pathogens.
L&I is releasing the preliminary draft rules in two batches, with each batch containing updates to both agricultural and non-agricultural child labor rules. Batch A contains the updates necessary to implement the bills, as well as improvements to the rules’ organization and alignment with federal standards.
Batch B contains additional rule provisions to improve the clarity and readability of the rules, the protections for minors, and consistency between the standards for agricultural and non-agricultural industries.
We are asking the public to review the updated draft of the preliminary rule language by 5 p.m. Dec. 12, 2025.
You can submit feedback via the ESRules@Lni.wa.gov email box.
In addition to written comments, L&I is hosting two virtual feedback sessions to share information, respond to questions, and receive comments.
General child labor. You can join the feedback session for general child labor updates at 10 a.m. Dec. 4. The meeting ID is 898 7192 2087 and the passcode is lni.2025. You can also join via phone at +1-253-215-8782 (Meeting ID: 89871922087# Passcode: 93131016#).
Agricultural child labor. You can join the feedback session for agricultural child labor updates at 10 a.m. Dec. 5. The meeting ID is 823 9573 5318 , and the passcode is lni.2025. You can also join via phone at +1-253-215-8782 (Meeting ID: 82395735318# Passcode:65833155#).
