# job question...please read! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2006, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634 "2006-08-14T05:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elevators](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elevators](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elevators)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/1 "2006-08-14T05:34:08Z")
HI, I am an elevator technician (repairman) and am only 14yrs. is this legal at all? any help would be appriciated! thanks! ---
**Author:** ![elevators](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@elevators](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elevators)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/2 "2006-08-14T05:35:59Z")
sorry i forgot to mention… I have my own independant elevator company, with only 2 employees (1 not counting me). ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/3 "2006-08-14T06:23:28Z")
You repair elevators and you’re 14 years old? And you have employees? What country are you writting from? If you are just going around offering your services for money, it counts as a business in the loosest, non-leagle ideas of the term. You probably need some sort of certification verifying that you and your buddies actually have the knowledge and skills to be working on machinery that has the potential to kill people when it fails. Never mind the fact that you aren’t reporting your earnings to the government and all that other paperwork stuff. Seriously, quit until you’ve researched this at more than just some random message board. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/4 "2006-08-14T07:48:04Z")
[QUOTE=elevators] sorry i forgot to mention… I have my own independant elevator company, with only 2 employees (1 not counting me). [/QUOTE] Ah! Good to know! I was going to ask, but the number-of-employees thing cleared up that tiny gap of information in an otherwise illuminating description of your situation. Since there are NO implicit hazards or dangers associated with elevators, there is precious little regulation around them. But here are some factoids I found in I.P. Freeley’s 1919 seminal tome _The Gentleman’s Illustrated Handbook to Elevator Repair and Steppe Straightening:_ > [@The Gentleman's Illustrated Handbook to Elevator Repair and Steppe Straightening](#): > > In the northern hemisphere, even-numbered underage-employee elevator companies are legal, but odd-numbered underage elevator employees are right out. In the southern hemisphere, the opposite is true. > > In countries ending in a vowel, at least one of the employees needs to be older than than the “13th floor” that buildings _don’t_ have. In countries ending in a consonant, the aggregate age of all the employees has to be greater than the number of floors the building has. Other than that, as I’m sure you’re aware as you must have taken the **EEEEEE** (Elevator / Escalator Expurgated Elementary Entrance Exam), if you were able to answer the final question, you’re official: _Is it technically still an elevator if you’re going down?_ The answer, of course, is “It depends on the aggregate age of the manufacturer’s employees at time of installation.” I hope this clears everything up. Now, stop fooling around on that computer, and get out there and have at those elevators! Literally tens of people the world over are waiting for a strapping teenager like yourself to monkey around with the delicate inner workings of mechanisms that take them hundreds and hundreds of feet above the surface that they would otherwise be standing upon. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/5 "2006-08-14T08:13:16Z")
Nope, not legal at all. (I am not your lawyer, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/6 "2006-08-14T08:49:52Z")
[QUOTE=elevators] HI, I am an elevator technician (repairman) and am only 14yrs. is this legal at all? any help would be appriciated! thanks! [/QUOTE] I would like to heavily censure my learned colleague **Hey You** for pissing around in General Questions _yet again._ He is _always_ doing this. Your current field of endeavour is illegal for a person of your age, and has been since the famous Abraham Lincoln (President of the United States and inventor of the famous Lincoln Continental luxury motor car) gave his Gettysburg Address in 1863. The penalty for contravening the Gettysburg Address, according to Lincoln, is an outbreak of layers of dead keratinised cells gradually appearing in the groin area of your body. This is not fatal. The remedy is to keep the affected area trimmed so that all the hairs are _exactly the same length._ If you do not adhere to this strict regime of bodily care your voice will deepen, and if the disease gets to that stage it is all downhill from there, believe me. Females so affected are not vocally disadvantaged in the manner described. For reasons which have baffled scientists since 1863, they just go out and start buying clothes. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/7 "2006-08-14T15:12:42Z")
[QUOTE=elevators] sorry i forgot to mention… I have my own independant elevator company, with only 2 employees (1 not counting me). [/QUOTE] In a further note, it could be legal and possible to own such a business and even work for it if elevators had inherited ownership/controlling interest in an incorporated elevator repair business. Many labor laws/safety laws do not apply to the owner. Starting one would be a royal pain because nobody with three firing brain cells would hire/contract with someone who would be difficult to bind by contract. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/8 "2006-08-14T15:28:14Z")
Well, if you’re dad’s a powerful member of a union, you [may just have a chance at landing a job in Chicago.](http://www.marincorpproductions.com/columns/091504.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/9 "2006-08-14T15:55:43Z")
I might be able to help. When I was 14, I mowed lawns and did some freelance jet engine repair for side money. I didn’t have any employees per se. I was pretty much equal partners with my younger brothers. I always worried a little about the legality of it as well but I found that wearing a cowboy hat while working helped me get around some of the restrictions because farm businesses are exempt from many employment laws that impact minors. Ultimately, I couldn’t get around everything as many jet engine repairs have to be done in the middle of the night and my teachers turned me in. I had to go on sabbatical until I turned 16 as you probably will as well. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/10 "2006-08-14T16:00:33Z")
What country is the OP in, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/11 "2006-08-14T16:09:59Z")
I’m pretty sure that a simple note from your mother will take care of all of your potential legal problems. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/12 "2006-08-14T16:16:45Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] What country is the OP in, anyway? [/QUOTE] For some reason Nigeria comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/13 "2006-08-14T16:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=elevators] HI, I am an elevator technician (repairman) and am only 14yrs. is this legal at all? [/QUOTE] At 14? Surely you jest. When and how did you qualify as anelevator technician. Or are you just calling yourself one? > [@](#): > > any help would be appriciated! thanks! You had best check regarding liicensing, business permits, etc. before “hanging out your shingle” lest you get busted. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/14 "2006-08-14T16:47:48Z")
[QUOTE=elevators] sorry i forgot to mention… I have my own independant elevator company [/QUOTE] I’ve always been a huge fan of independant elevators myself. Those that are always located inside of buildings are just so…attached. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/15 "2006-08-14T17:12:31Z")
I don’t want to out anybody, but is the OP’s first name Otis? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/16 "2006-08-14T17:34:21Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] I don’t want to out anybody, but is the OP’s first name Otis? [/QUOTE] Are you suggesting he is the town drunk? Is that allowed? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/17 "2006-08-14T17:38:11Z")
When I was 14, the child-labour people barged into the room and I had to scrub out. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/18 "2006-08-14T17:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] I don’t want to out anybody, but is the OP’s first name Otis? [/QUOTE] I don’t want to out anybody either, but is the OP’s last name Schindler? ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/19 "2006-08-14T17:52:13Z")
To answer the question seriously, it depends on the child labor laws of the jurisdiction in which you will be working. Many states have laws prohibiting minors from working in certain hazardous or industrial jobs. For example, under the New York [child labor laws](http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workerprotection/laborstandards/workprot/stprhboc.shtm): > [@](#): > > No one under the age of 18 may be employed in or assist in: > > . . . > > Any occupation involved in the operation of power-driven hoisting apparatus. > > . . . > > The care or operation of a freight or passenger elevator, except that minors over 16 may operate automatic, push-button control elevators. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634/20 "2006-08-14T18:01:07Z")
Looking further, it appears that federal law would also likely prohibit a 14-year-old from working as an elevator technician. From the New York state [labor department website](http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workerprotection/laborstandards/workprot/fedproc.shtm): > [@](#): > > FEDERAL PROHIBITED OCCUPATIONS - UNDER I8 YEARS OF AGE > In addition to the State regulations concerning prohibited occupations, there are 17 Federal Hazardous Orders in Non-Agricultural Occupations that prohibit the employment of minors under 18 engaged in interstate commerce. These orders apply to occupations: > > . . . > > Involved in the operation of elevators and other power-driven hoisting apparatus. (However, minors 16 and 17 years old are permitted to operate and ride on automatic enclosed elevators.) > > FEDERAL PROHIBITED OCCUPATIONS - UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE > In addition, Federal regulations issued under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act prohibit employment of minors under 16 in the following occupations in firms covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act: > > Operating or tending hoisting apparatus or power-driven machinery other than office machines. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-question-please-read/368634.md?page=2)