Mark,
If I were an IRS agent, I would be investigating you already.  Sounds like you are setting up a scam to claim expenses for a business that does not exist.  Go slowly.  Your ideas are good but a bit premature.

Examples of Model Releases for minors are available at all the microstock sites.  You'll need specific releases for each agency to which you upload images.

You'll also need these for adults and certain property.

Examples of Model Releases for minors are available at all the microstock sites.  You'll need specific releases for each agency to which you upload images.

 

you can use just one MR if you word it properly -- i dl'd all the releases for agencies i submit to, then redacted to  1 doc that covered any specific details for each agency.  i sent a copy to the stricter agencies and they said it would be fine; your mileage may vary

steve

I never looked after it here in Brazil, but I always read that it is prohibited to hire minors, in order to avoid exploitation and school dropouts. There were issues even about small farmers needing their children during harvest and in some rural areas schools changed their periods so that there are no classes during the harvesting season (although, from my understanding, children should not be employed anyway). 

I wonder however how minors can work in TV or as models.  I suppose some legal authorization is required.

Regards,
Adelaide

There ain't nothing wrong with slave labor when it comes to your own children! Or you can give them pocket money just as you would for other chores (but don't expect it to be a legitimate business tax deduction!).
My kids have scored a wii, computer games and DVDs as well as extra pocket money for acting as models or holding reflectors for me. All on a strictly unnofficial basis. So I don't treat it as expenses, and they don't treat it as income (but my stock income is so low, it's  still a hobby as far as both me and the Australian tax man is concerned . I'll have to talk with the accountant again about that, though if my income continues to rise - it's still easily a loss, as I plough it all back into computer of camera gear or software and technical books but it might be getting big enough to be a loss making business.)

Official employment gets messy. And what's allowed varies a lot with the jurisdiction. I think it's fifteen here in South Australia (and younger for stuff like newspaper delivery on bicycles!)  There  often seem to be exemptions for hours of work and age for models and performers and sometimes for kids working in a family business. In Australia the taxation on kids income can be pretty heavy to stop people from just funnelling business income to other members of the family in lower income  tax brackets (I've got to check up on this as my youngest has just been offered some (I think paid) singing and dance work, so I can play at being a pushy stage mother!)

istock will take minors as contributors  - they have a form for parents to sign to agree to take the fall if there are any problems (basically!). If you email contributor relations, they can help. My daughter wants to contribute audio so I investigated it earlier this year, but she hasn't got around to recording her application stuff, so I haven't gone any further with it. I don't know about other stock agencies though.
 

There ain't nothing wrong with slave labor when it comes to your own children! Or you can give them pocket money just as you would for other chores (but don't expect it to be a legitimate business tax deduction!).

Susan, it depends on how much of their time is spent in such activities and how much they are willing to do it (even for the pocket money).  There are cases of young girls (an young as 10) who are responsible for their younger siblings while their parents are at work.  They have to cook for them, bathe them, look after them, take them and pick them up from school - the same school these girls themselves don't attend to because they have all this on their shoulders.  Even if they got paid for this (and they don't), this isn't acceptable.

Ok, this is an extreme case, but even if kids are assigned chores that take their whole weekend, this would not be legally allowed.  Of course nothing happens if someone doesn't place a complaint.

Regards,
Adelaide

Mark,

While your intention to keep things totally legal is admirable, you are opening up a big can of worms when it comes to child labor in a home business.  You should be consulting your own state labor board and state tax department when it comes to a situations such as this, not a photo forum. While people here can give opinions about what they think is right, it cannot be construed in any way as proper guidance.

For employing anyone, you must have proper accounting of payroll taxes, and these will likely involve payments to a state disability fund, workman's comp, etc. However, when it comes to underage child labor, your state may require something called "working papers" for minors, and there will likely be restrictions on activities, and possibly a premises visit by your state labor board. The premises visit has occurred with two people that I know of with minor children involved.

Following are a few comments on excerpts your original post. THese comments should be not contrued as legal advice.

Some of the work they may do could be modeling, helping set up a shoot, taking photos, keywording, and uploading.

If you are working on a site, meaning off your own property, even a public park, you had better have liability insurance in place in case someone trips over a tripod. Kids will just leave them in the darnedest places. And for a sole proprietorship, it is needed anyway. Should you have any other "models" entering your premises and they become injured, or their personal property brought to the shoot is stolen or damaged, your homeowners or renters insurance will not cover this.

Does anyone have an employment agreement they use for hiring their children?  How much should they be paid?

In a work for hire scenario, the images would be owned by you since it is work product. As far as a work agreement, children of this age cannot give consent for any legal agreement. Any agreement would have to be approved by a parent or legal guardian. In this case, any agreement that you write and approve could be construed as a shady deal. It should be approved by the other parent, and even then, any agreement could be construed as suspect because of the family relationships.

Except for certain businesses like restaurants, you are likely bound by minimum wage standards.

My 14 year old would like to take photos and submit them to mircostock sites, but as far as I can determine you must be 18 to do this.  If I hire her, wouldn�t I get the copyright to the photos she takes so then I could legally upload her photos?  Is there any verbage I should add to the employment agreement so that I get the copyright ownership?

If employed by you, ownership of the images would be yours as it is work for hire. If you worked for Hallmark Cards and produced artwork while on their clock, the images are property of Hallmark. Plain and simple. Should you be hell bent on writing a work agreement, it should state that any and all intellectual property originated by the employee shall be considered and remain for all time the property of Your Business Name Images.

In the case of off the clock images produced by the children, you could just try a separate account for the child with parental consent as mentioned above, in which you yourself would have no rights to the images. They would remain the intellectual property of the child.

For proper guidance, consult an accountant who has knowledge of required payroll taxes, your own state labor board, and the Small Business Administration.  There is an organization within SBA called SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) that can steer you in the right direction. SCORE often runs local workshops free of charge, usually at a public library or other easily accessible venue. Check your local chapter.

Just to let everybody know, I have no intentions of having my children be "dedicated employees".  I probably can only them to help out an hour or two at the most on the weekends anyway, since they are busy with their own activities.

Thanks for all your comments.