Under Texas child labor laws, employers may not employ children to sell items or services or solicit donations, except for exempt organizations and businesses owned and operated by a part or guardian, if the child is:
- under 14 years of age; and
- unaccompanied by a parent or guardian.
TX Code 51.014(d); TX Code 51.0145(e)
Before an employer may employ a child in sales and solicitation occupations, it must:
- at least seven days before the child is to begin work, obtain the signed consent of a parent or guardian on a form provided by the Texas Workforce Commission
- provide the consenting parent or guardian:
- a map of the route the child will following while soliciting; and
- the name of each individual who will be supervising each solicitation trip;
- provide at each location at least one adult supervisor for every three youth participating in the soliciation trip;
- limits the solicitation trip to:
- no later than 7 p.m. on any day when the child is legally required to be in school; and
- the hours between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on all other days.
TX Code 51.0145(c); TX Admin. Code 817.24(a)
Employers must limit solicitation trips to within a radius of no greater than thirty miles from a child’s home, unless a parent or guardian signs a consent form in advance specifficaly approving a greater distance. TX Admin. Code 817.24(c)
For purposes of this restriction on child labor, the term solicit mean an action of a child to:
- sell goods or services in a setting other than a retail establishment;
- request donations; or
- distribute items, information, or advertising.
Exempt organizations include:
- charitable organizations as defined by TX Code 84.003
- an organization subject to Texas’s Election Code
- a club, organization, or other group engaged in a fund-raising activity for the club, organization, or group if the activity is sponsored by a public or private primary or secondary school.
TX Code 51.014(e); TX Code 51.0145(a)(1)
