34:2-21.59. Permit; grounds for issuance

a. Upon application of an employer, bearing the endorsed approval of a parent or guardian of the minor a permit authorizing employment of the minor in a theatrical production may be issued if:

(a) The minor is in good health and will not likely be endangered by the working conditions of the prospective employment as certified by a currently issued statement of a licensed physician based upon a physical examination which, for minors under 8 years of age, includes a visual acuity screening if practicable;

(b) The place of employment is approved by the Department of Labor and the period for which the permit is desired is not in excess of 3 months;

(c) The minor is not attending public school and the application is for a period other than during the school summer vacation period, that he is receiving equivalent instruction approved by the Department of Education or by the state or county of his residence if he be a nonresident of New Jersey;

(d) The proposed employment will not exceed two shows or productions in a day or a total of eight shows or productions in any week where the professional employment is reasonably separable into discrete shows or productions; that the employment will not be for more than 6 days in any week, 5 hours in any day or a total of 24 hours, including rehearsal time, in any week and that the minor will not be employed before 7:00 a.m. or after 11:30 p.m. and that school and theatrical performance time shall not exceed 8 hours in any 1 day and that the combined time spent on a set or on call and performance time shall not exceed a total of eight hours in any one day;

(e) The employment does not involve a type of prohibited performance as hereinafter defined; and

(f) The minor will be under the direct care and supervision of an adult who is a parent, guardian or a representative of the employer, named in the application, at all times during his employment or while living away from home when required as an incident of such employment.

b. A permit or certificate, as the case may be, may be issued by the issuing officer or by the Commissioner of Labor in cases involving a significant contribution to the development of the motion picture industry in the State as determined by the Motion Picture and Television Development Commission. In such cases, the commissioner shall also have the authority to alter or amend the hours of the day but not the total hours in the day during which a minor may work as set forth in paragraph (d), subsection a. of this section, if such alteration or amendment will not foreseeably impair the educational instruction, supervision, health and welfare of the minor, and such an alteration or amendment is necessary for good reasons shown by the employer. The commissioner shall set forth the terms of any alteration or amendment in the permit or certificate.

L.1962, c. 91, s. 3. Amended by L.1977, c. 430, s. 2, eff. Feb. 28, 1978; L.1981, c. 147, s. 2, eff. May 14, 1981; L.1981, c. 331, s. 5, eff. Dec. 14, 1981.