WASHINGTON — As a former bartender turned tipped employee, Trupti Patel knows that customers get pushy when alcohol is involved.
After more than a decade in the restaurant industry, she’s used to dealing with drunk customers who get out of control, especially if they become aggressive or make lewd comments. But the D.C. resident finds it unsettling to think about teenagers trying to deal with the same situation.
(*14*) she told States Newsroom. “But you’re going to yell and scream at a 14-year-old, a 15-year-old, a 16-year-old? They’re not going to handle it the same way.”
Patel is not alone in her concern about the growing trend of states proposing and passing laws that allow teens as newborn as 14 to serve alcohol in restaurants, amid laws rolling back other restrictions on child labor. She has been joined by labor organizers and legal experts who worry that loosening those restrictions could enhance a teen’s risk of exposure to sexual harassment, especially in an industry where it is common.
It’s a development that the restaurant industry has been lobbying states for, saying the regulations are needed to assist fill a labor shortage. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data collected by Federal Reserve Economic DataThere are over 1.3 million vacancies in the hospitality and leisure industry.
And as the restaurant industry looks to state lawmakers to assist fill the gap, teens are becoming a target — there is no federal law or child labor regulation that prohibits anyone under 18 from serving alcohol, even though they are years away from the legal drinking age of 21.
“What’s most disturbing about (this trend) is that it’s showing women and young girls, at a very young age, what is appropriate behavior and that it sticks with them their entire lives,” Diana Ramírez, senior policy and coalition manager at the Washington-based National Women’s Law Center, told States Newsroom.
State actions
As of 2021, seven states have passed laws lowering the drinking age.
In 2021 New Mexico AND ohio the age of serving alcohol has been lowered from 19 to 18 years and West Virginia the age was lowered from 18 to 16. Last year, Kentucky the age for serving alcohol has been lowered from 20 to 18; Alabama lowered the age from 19 to 18, and Michigan lowered the age from 18 to 17.
Latest condition pass a law easing teen drinking restrictions in Iowa, where 16-year-olds can now serve and sell alcohol. Iowa state legislature lobbying records show the Iowa Restaurant Association, the state affiliate of the NRA, was for the draft bill.
“I think a lot of this change in state law was to (legalize) things that were already happening,” said Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
In two more states, lawmakers have introduced laws that would allow teenagers to serve, sell or serve alcohol while working in restaurants.
This year, Wisconsin Republicans have introduced a bill to allow 14-year-olds serve alcohol and last year, Idaho State Republicans have passed a bill in the Senate that would lower the legal age to serve alcohol from 19 to 17.
While child labor violations tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor do not specify alcohol-related violations, the agency has seen an enhance in child labor violations since 2015. Most of the citations came from the food industry, from swift food chains to meatpacking plants, according to DOL statistics.
In fiscal year 2022, there were 835 companies that employed more than 3,800 children in violation of labor laws. This is an enhance from fiscal year 2015, when 542 companies employed more than 1,000 children in violation of labor laws.
“The (Fair Labor Standards Act) and its child labor provisions apply in all states, and no state has the ability to restrict these provisions,” U.S. attorney Seema Nanda said in a statement to States Newsroom. “The Department will vigorously enforce child labor laws in all States and closely monitors actions taken by individual States in this area.”
However, many states have moved weaken child labor laws, extend children’s work hours, and allow teenagers to work in hazardous industries.
However, the Labor Department can only do what state laws permitting teens to serve alcohol would require, and there is no applicable federal law beyond general child labor laws.
Eric Edmonds, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College, said there are two clear phenomena related to child labor in the United States.
“One is that the U.S. Department of Labor is trying to increase penalties when it finds violations of child labor laws in the workplace, so we have a kind of national level push to increase child labor laws,” he said. “And at the state level, we have a number of conservative states that are trying to roll back child labor laws.”
He said one challenge in understanding the prevalence of child labor is a lack of data. Edmonds said that under the Biden administration, the Labor Department has done more inspections in some areas where children are likely to work, such as the food industry.
“We are seeing reports of an increase in child labor cases, but that is because we are focusing more on places where child labor occurs,” he said.
Sexual harassment of teenagers in restaurants
Teenagers are typically at greatest risk for sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, said Jennifer Drobac, a law professor at Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law who specializes in sexual harassment law.
“This vulnerability, combined with inexperience, creates a potentially toxic situation where those already engaged in illegal activities can take advantage of younger workers,” she told States Newsroom.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission does not collect birthdate data, so it does not know how many sexual harassment complaints filed with the agency come from teenagers.
In total, more than 11,000 cases of sexual harassment In fiscal year 2022, the agency received complaints.
More than 36% of teenagers aged 16 to 19 participate in the labour market, according to Federal Reserve economic data.
Drobac said it’s not that teens should be kept out of the workforce. But because the teenage years are crucial for solidifying their brain development, bad experiences like sexual harassment “can have a really detrimental effect on their personality development.”
“We don’t want to prevent teens from engaging in services and job opportunities that would be good for them, that would help them develop skills and sharpen their work ethic,” Drobac said. “But we need to protect them when they engage in these behaviors so that they don’t suffer psychological or physical harm while doing their jobs.”
Pressure from industry
In nearly every bill that has passed or been introduced, local chapters of the National Restaurant Association and local alcohol trade groups have lobbied to ease restrictions, state legislature lobbying records show.
The National Restaurant Association, or NRA, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from States Newsroom. The organization represents about 500,000 catering establishments.
Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, a labor organization that advocates for restaurant workers to be paid the full minimum wage, said the labor shortage reflects workers’ refusal to take jobs that pay less than the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is currently $2.13 an hour.
Jayaraman said the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers is “the root of the fact that our industry has the highest rate of sexual harassment of any industry.”
“We have a population that is more than two-thirds female, and young women are forced to tolerate all sorts of inappropriate behavior from customers in order to receive income in the form of tips rather than an actual salary from their employer,” she said.
Jayaraman said the National Restaurant Association initiative is “an attempt to solve the worst staffing crisis the industry has ever faced in its history.”
“It’s crazy and outrageous that children can’t drink alcohol or serve it, but that’s because adults, even young adults, don’t want to work for that kind of pay now,” she said.
Red and blue states
Most states seeking to lower the drinking age to minors have Republican-dominated legislatures, but three bills have passed in states with a Democrat governor.
Two of the bills were passed and introduced on a bipartisan basis in New Mexico and Kentucky before being signed into law by Democratic governors.
In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bipartisan bill last year to lower the age at which teenagers can serve alcohol from 18 to 17. While Michigan currently has a triple Democratic majority, Republicans controlled both the state House and Senate last year.
The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, an association representing bar, restaurant and tavern owners, was supporting draft bill. Lobbying records show that the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, the state affiliate of the NRA, spent $24,640 on lobbying last year.
Making it easier for teenagers to serve alcohol is part of a larger trend in which some 11 states have also taken action to roll back child labor laws to allow them to work longer in industries considered hazardous, such as mining and construction.
Reid Maki, director of child labor and outreach coordinator at the Child Labor Coalition, said he is concerned not only about teens serving alcohol to adults, but also about states extending teen work hours.
He pointed to New Hampshire, where 14-year-olds can clear tables of alcohol and work until 35 hours per week during the school week. In this state, employees still must be 18 years or older to serve alcohol.
“When kids work more than 20 hours a week, their grades go down, they finish school worse, and then child and youth work becomes child labor, which has negative consequences,” he said.
Ramírez of the National Women’s Law Center made similar comments, saying pressure to allow teenagers to work longer stems from low wages.
“I know the restaurant industry likes to say we have a labor shortage, but it’s not a labor shortage, it’s a wage shortage,” Ramírez said. “You’re not paying people enough to put up with that.”
