This bill amends RCW 49.12.390 and adds a new section to chapter 49.12 RCW to change enforcement procedures, penalty amounts, permit revocation rules, and variance preconditions for laws governing employment of minors. It requires citations and penalty assessments to be given to the highest management official available or mailed to the workplace with a copy to the employer’s central personnel office, and posted near the violation. For specified nonserious violations (including failure to obtain a minor work permit, recordkeeping, or school authorization procedures), a first citation must state a specific and reasonable time to abate before any civil penalty is imposed. The bill establishes minimum civil penalties by violation type: $100 for certain nonserious violations, $150 for hours-of-work violations, $300 for meal or rest break violations, $1,000 minimum for prohibited duty/variance/minimum wage for minors or other serious violations (and $2,000 for each second or subsequent citation for those items), and $71,000 minimum for any violation resulting in serious physical harm or death of a minor (which may be doubled if willful or repeated). The department may increase penalties above these minimums based on listed factors. It authorizes additional civil penalties of at least $1,000 per day for continuing serious or repeated violations, authority for the director or designee to issue immediate restraining orders when inspection shows a substantial probability of death or serious harm to a minor, revocation of a minor work permit and a prohibition on issuing a new permit for at least 12 months when an employer receives three or more qualifying citations within 24 months, and a 30-day deadline for employers to pay assessed penalties or notify the director of intent to appeal. Penalties collected are deposited to the general fund and specified citation and injury information must be included in the department’s annual report. Beginning July 1, 2027, and every two years thereafter, the department must adjust the listed amounts for inflation by rule. The new variance-related section requires the department, before granting a variance under RCW 49.12.121 to allow minors in certain education or apprenticeship programs to perform duties otherwise prohibited by age, to conduct a worksite safety and health consultation and to consult with the employer about permitted tools, equipment, and practices. The extracted text repeatedly refers to “the department” and “director” without naming the agency, and it cross-references other RCW provisions (for example RCW 49.12.121, 49.12.123, and 49.12.400) whose full texts and appeal procedures are not included here, so some procedural details and statutory definitions are not present in the provided material.

If this becomes law, employers who hire minors will face clearer and often higher minimum fines for specific violations, from as low as $100 for minor paperwork issues up to $71,000 for violations that cause serious injury or death (with higher amounts for willful or repeated offenses), plus possible daily fines for ongoing serious violations. Employers can also lose their minor work permit for at least 12 months after repeated qualifying citations, must pay or appeal penalties within 30 days, and may be subject to immediate orders removing minors from dangerous situations; at the same time, first-time nonserious violations must give a reasonable chance to fix the problem before a penalty is imposed. The department that enforces these rules gets stronger tools and must add more information to its annual report, and it must do a worksite safety consultation and talk with employers before allowing certain exceptions for minors in school or apprenticeship programs. The people most affected are employers of minors (who face higher and more predictable financial and operational risks, plus administrative steps), minors and their schools or apprenticeship programs (who gain added safety review before variances), and the enforcing agency (which has expanded enforcement and reporting duties). It is unclear from the text which specific department is named and some details about the appeal process and the exact revocation criteria are referenced but not included here.