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Show Hatch Would Change Youth Labor Laws Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has proposed a temporary wage differential dif-ferential for youths, in an effort to improve the country's youth employment em-ployment problem. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., presented the bill at Hatch's request. The "Youth Opportunity Wage Act" would permit employers to pay people under 20 years old 75 percent of the minimum wage (currently set at $3.:i5 an hour). Employers could also pay full-time students 75 percent of the minimum without first having to obtain a certificate from the Secretary of Labor. Provisions of the bill would impose penalties on employers who "violate the spirit of the law by paying less than 75 percent of the minimum, who retain youths at the sub-minimum level longer than six months, or who engage in a practice of substituting workers at the lower wage," Hatch said. "It is time to do something about youth unemployment. Increases in the minimum wage have priced young, unskilled workers out of their jobs. We need to provide an incentive to businesses to hire young people, to give them the opportunity to work. "The relationship between the minimum wage and youth unemployment unem-ployment is constant. Many jobs performed by unskilled youths are eliminated because employers say they are simply not worth the full minimum wage." Hatch, chairman of the Labor and Human Resources Committee, said he proposed this as a solution after considering additional tax credits to employers who hire disadvantage minority members. "Labor unions are generally opposed to a two-tiered minimum wage, yet aren't convinced that more tax breaks are the answer, either. "I'm trying to form a relationship with organized labor, but we cannot attack youth unemployment solely through expensive federal job training and work experience programs. We've found that tax credits to businessmen don't help the problem, either. We need a youth opportunity wage," Hatch said. Hatch said he hopes to hold hearings on youth unemployment problems soon, although none are scheduled yet. |