Child Labor/Minors in Entertainment Automated System

Georgia Department of Labor

The entertainment industry adds billions of dollars annually to Georgia’s economy and continues to grow, but employees must obtain approval from the Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) before they can hire minors. The Child Labor/Minors in Entertainment Automated System replaced an outdated, manual process for approving minors to work in Georgia’s entertainment industry.

The manual process required employers to submit written applications for each minor they hired, a process that was burdensome for employers and time-consuming for DOL workers. The number of applications related to minors has doubled in since 2016, and before the new system was implemented, applications could only be approved during regular business hours. In addition, it could take as long as five days to review an application seeking approval for a minor to work on a film location.

The new, automated system allows employers to quickly and easily add productions and locations for which they are hiring. The entire registration process for an employer can be completed in less than one hour, including employer, production, and location registrations. Meanwhile, minors can be registered in the system by their adult representative in less than 30 minutes. After the employer, minor, production, and locations are approved, employers enjoy 24/7/365 access to add minors to work locations.

The new system provides immediate approval, even during nonbusiness hours, for a minor to work on a location. It also gives employers the capability to maintain an online, printable record of their minor hires. The system uses responsive design, which automatically adjusts its display to optimally fit any device, whether desktop or mobile. It has significantly enhanced the employer’s ability to hire minors when needed and without delays. The system also provides DOL workers with data for tracking and reporting various statistics and allows for seamless cost recovery, thereby making this particular DOL business unit self-supporting.