Important Information for Golf Courses Employing Minors
and/or Serving Alcohol
By John Seiser,
Senior Vice President,
Certified Insurance Counselor,
Kapnick Insurance
We all know another golf season is rapidly approaching.
With the labor costs increasing these days, you are looking
for creative ways to do the same amount of work with less
people and at a lower cost. You have all saved money on
your insurance this year, however, in order to keep you
insurance rates down, you still need to pay special attention
to legal and safety issues. At the MGCOA annual meeting
in Frankenmuth this past December, Kate had Bob Hood from
Willingham & Cote, P.C. Attorneys at Law discussed some
important issues regarding employment. The Michigan Department
of Labor Wage and Hour Division has a great handout regarding
young employees. I highly recommend getting your hands on
a copy if you employ anyone under age 18. In addition to
Bob's information, I recently obtained some basic information
from the Department of Labor answering some frequently asked
questions. Please take a moment and review the information:
• A minor under 16 years of age shall not be employed
in any occupation involving the operation of power driven
weed whackers, string trimmers, power edgers, lawn mowers
or cutters.
• A minor shall not operate, or assist in the operation
of, including the starting, stopping, adjusting, feeding
or any other activity involving physical contact with tractors
exceeding 20 power take off horsepower, including connecting
or disconnecting any implement or any of its parts to or
from such a tractor; except that minors 16 to 17 years of
age who are provided operating instructions from their employers
may operate such tractors.
• Minors 16 to 17 may operate golf carts on a golf
course.
• A minor shall not be employed in any occupation
which requires the operation of a motor vehicle on any public
road or highway, except when such operation is occasional
and incidental to the minor's primary work activities and
all of the following requirements are complied with:
1. The gross vehicle weight does not exceed 6,000 pounds
2. The operation is restricted to daylight hours
3. The minor holds a state license valid for the type of
motor vehicle operation involved in the job performed and
has completed a state-approved driver education course
4. The vehicle is equipped with a seat belt or similar device
for the driver and for each helper, and the employer has
instructed each minor that such belts or other devices must
be used
5. The operation does not involve the transporting of passengers
or the towing of vehicles
Motor vehicle means any automobile, truck, truck-tractor,
trailer, semi-trailer, motorcycle, or similar vehicle propelled
or drawn by mechanical power and designed for use as a means
of transportation, but does not include any vehicle operated
exclusively on rails.
A minor shall not be employed as an outside helper on any
motor vehicle on a public highway.
Remember, you can also be fined by the state if you are
in violation of the above and have an under age 18 employee
injured. This could be a disaster of a different type and
still cost you thousands of dollars.
Want to reduce your chances of an alcohol related lawsuit?
Be sure all of your servers are trained in alcohol awareness.
Whether you or your manager train your servers, prevention
is very necessary.. Following are sources for you to explore
if interested:
TAM®
Techniques of Alcohol Management
1-800-292-2896
www.mlba.org
TIPS®
Training for Intervention Procedures
1-800-438-8477
www.gettips.com
C.A.R.E.®
Controlling Alcohol Risks Effectively
1-800-344-3320
www.ei-ahia.org
ServSafe Alcohol™ Responsible Alcohol Service
1-800-968-9668
www.michiganrestaurant.org
We will talk about our disaster planning next time, however,
if you want to use your current down time to set up better
loss control management, call us.
In the meantime, have a safe and profitable 2007 season.
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