(820 ILCS 205/12) (from Ch. 48, par. 31.12)

Sec. 12. The person authorized to issue employment certificates shall issue a certificate only after examining and approving the written application and other papers required under this Section. The application shall be signed by the applicant's parent or legal guardian. The application shall be submitted in person by the minor desiring employment, unless the issuing officer determines that the minor may utilize a remote application process. The minor shall be accompanied by his or her parent, guardian, or custodian, whether applying in person or remotely. The following papers shall be submitted with the application:

1. A statement of intention to employ signed by the prospective employer, or by someone duly authorized by him, setting forth the specific nature of the occupation in which he intends to employ such minor and the exact hours of the day and number of hours per day and days per week during which the minor shall be employed.

2. Evidence of age showing that the minor is of the age required by this Act, which evidence shall be documentary, and shall be required in the order designated, as follows:

a. a birth certificate or transcript thereof furnished by the State or County or a signed statement of the recorded date and place of birth issued by a registrar of vital records, or other officer charged with the duty of recording births, such registration having been completed within 10 years after the date of birth;

b. a certificate of baptism, or transcript thereof, duly certified, showing the date of birth and place of baptism of the child;

c. other documentary proof of age (other than a school record or an affidavit of age) such as a bona fide record of the date and place of the child's birth, kept in the Bible in which the records of births, marriages and deaths in the family of the child are preserved; a certificate of confirmation or other church ceremony at least one year old, showing the age of the child and the date and place of the confirmation or ceremony; or a certificate of arrival in the United States, issued by the United States Immigration Officer, showing the age of the child; or a life insurance policy at least one year old showing the age of the child;

d. If none of the proofs of age described in items a, b and c are obtainable, and only in that case, the issuing officer may accept a certificate signed by a physician, who shall be a public health officer or a public school physician, stating that he has examined the child and that in his opinion the child is at least of the age required by this Act. The certificate shall show the height and weight of the child, the condition of the child's teeth, and any other facts concerning the child's physical development revealed by the examination and upon which his opinion as to the child's age is based, and shall be accompanied by a school record of age.

3. A statement on a form approved by the Department of Labor and signed by the principal of the school that the minor attends, or during school holidays when the principal is not available, then by the Regional or District Superintendent of Schools or by a person designated by him for that purpose, showing the minor's name, address, social security number, grade last completed, and the names of his parents, provided that the statement shall be required only in the case of a minor who is employed on school days outside school hours, or on Saturdays or other school holidays during the school term.

4. A statement of physical fitness signed by a public health or public school physician who has examined the minor, certifying that the minor is physically fit to be employed in all legal occupations or to be employed in legal occupations under limitations specified. If the statement of physical fitness is limited, the employment certificate issued thereon shall state clearly the limitations upon its use, and shall be valid only when used under the limitations so stated.

In any case where the physician deems it advisable he may issue a certificate of physical fitness for a specified period of time, at the expiration of which the person for whom it was issued shall appear and be re-examined before being permitted to continue work.

Examinations shall be made in accordance with the standards and procedures prescribed by the State Director of the Department of Labor, in consultation with the State Director of the Department of Public Health and the State Superintendent of Education, and shall be recorded on a form furnished by the Department of Labor. When made by public health or public school physicians, the examination shall be made without charge to the minor. In case a public health or public school physician is not available, a statement from a private physician who has examined the minor may be accepted, provided that the examination is made in accordance with the standards and procedures established by the Department of Labor.

If the issuing officer refuses to issue a certificate to a minor, the issuing officer shall send to the principal of the school last attended by the minor the name and address of the minor and the reason for the refusal to issue the certificate.

(Source: P.A. 102-32, eff. 6-25-21.)