I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1049

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reform the provisions

relating to child labor.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1995

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs.

SCHROEDER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr.

BERMAN, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER,

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. FROST, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida,

Mr. SABO, Mr. WYNN, Mr. YATES, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FILNER, Mr.

GUTIERREZ, Mr. MANTON, Mr. OWENS, and Mr. VENTO) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and

Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reform

the provisions relating to child labor.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE: REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Young American Workers’ Bill of Rights’’.

6 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend7 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
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1 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

2 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi3 sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

4 SEC. 2. REPORTING AND RECORDKEEPING.

5 (a) CHILD-LABOR LAWS.—Section 12 (29 U.S.C.

6 212) is amended by adding at the end the following new

7 subsection:

8 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary and the United States Census

9 Bureau shall compile annually data from respective State

10 employment security agencies in all the States (A) on the

11 types of industries and occupations in which children

12 under the age of 18 are employed, and (B) on cases in

13 which it was determined that children were employed in

14 violation of this section.

15 ‘‘(2) If a minor in the course of employment suffers

16 death or an injury or illness resulting in lost work time

17 of at least 1 working day, not later than 5 days after the

18 death, injury, or illness, the employer of the minor shall

19 provide to the State agency a written description of the

20 death, injury, or illness.

21 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Health and Human Services,

22 in conjunction with the Secretary of Labor, shall issue an

23 annual report on the status of child labor in the United

24 States and its attendant safety and health hazards.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. CERTIFICATES OF EMPLOYMENT.

2 Section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212), as amended by section

3 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following

4 new subsection:

5 ‘‘(f)(1) As used in this subsection:

6 ‘‘(A) The term ‘minor’ means an individual who

7 is under the age of 18 and who has not received a

8 high school diploma or its equivalent.

9 ‘‘(B) The term ‘parents’ means the biological

10 parents of a minor or other individual standing in

11 loco parentis to a minor.

12 ‘‘(2) No employer shall employ a minor unless the

13 minor possesses a valid certificate of employment issued

14 in accordance with this subsection.

15 ‘‘(3) The Governor of a State shall designate a State

16 agency to issue certificates of employment to minors in

17 the State. The agency shall make available, on request,

18 a form for the application described in paragraph (4) and

19 shall make available, as part of the certification process,

20 materials describing applicable Federal requirements gov21 erning the employment of minors and the minor’s rights

22 under such requirements.

23 ‘‘(4) To be eligible to receive a certificate of employ24 ment, a minor must submit to the appropriate State agen25 cy an application that contains—

26 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the minor;
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1 ‘‘(B) proof of age of the minor;

2 ‘‘(C) if the minor is under the age of 18—

3 ‘‘(i) a written statement by the parents of

4 the minor that the parents grant consent for

5 employment of the minor;

6 ‘‘(ii) written verification from the minor’s

7 school that the minor is meeting at least the

8 minimum school attendance requirements estab9 lished by the State and that such employment

10 will not interfere with the schooling of the

11 minor; and

12 ‘‘(D) the employer’s name, address, signature;

13 and

14 ‘‘(E) with respect to the employment—

15 ‘‘(i) a statement on the nature of the work

16 to be performed;

17 ‘‘(ii) the daily and weekly hours, and

18 ‘‘(iii) the times of day in which the work

19 is to be performed.

20 ‘‘(5) On receipt of an application under paragraph

21 (4), a State agency shall issue to the minor—

22 ‘‘(A) a certificate of employment, if the require23 ments of paragraph (4) are met; or
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1 ‘‘(B) a statement of the denial of a certificate

2 of employment (including the reasons for the denial),

3 if the requirements of paragraph (4) are not met.

4 ‘‘(6) A certificate of employment issued to a minor

5 under this subsection shall be valid for 1 year after the

6 date of issuance of the certificate or for the duration of

7 the permitted employment, whichever is shorter.

8 ‘‘(7) A certificate of employment issued to a minor

9 under this subsection shall indicate—

10 ‘‘(A) the name, address, and date of birth of

11 the minor;

12 ‘‘(B) a minor will not be employed more than

13 3 hours per day or more than 15 hours per week

14 and shall be prohibited from working before 7 a.m.

15 and after 7 p.m. when school is in session if such

16 minor is between 14 and 16 years of age and will

17 not be employed more than 4 hours per school day

18 or more than 20 hours per week and shall be prohib19 ited from working before 6 a.m. and after 10 p.m.

20 when school is in session if such minor is between

21 16 and 18 years of age; and

22 ‘‘(C) the name, address, and telephone number

23 of the State agency that may be contacted for addi24 tional information concerning applicable Federal re25 quirements governing the employment of minors.
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1 ‘‘(8) The State agency shall provide a copy of a cer2 tificate of employment issued to a minor under the age

3 of 18 to the parent of the minor who granted consent pur4 suant to paragraph (4) and to the local school district

5 where the minor is enrolled.

6 ‘‘(9) If an employer employs a minor, not later than

7 14 days after the date of the commencement of employ8 ment of the minor, the employer shall provide to the State

9 agency written notice of the name and occupation of the

10 minor and the number of the certificate of employment

11 issued to the minor.

12 ‘‘(10) Each employer shall post a copy of the provi13 sions of this Act relating to child labor at each premise

14 of a worksite where one or more minors is employed.

15 ‘‘(11) A State agency shall report annually to the

16 Secretary concerning certificates of employment issued

17 under this subsection. The agency shall include such infor18 mation as the Secretary requires (including information

19 on the number of deaths and injuries of minors reported

20 pursuant to subsection (f)).’’.

21 SEC. 4. REVISIONS OF ORDERS AND REGULATIONS.

22 (a) ORDERS.—

23 (1) In the administration of the Fair Labor

24 Standards Act of 1938, the Secretary of Labor shall

25 make the following revisions in the Secretary’s child
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1 labor orders published in subpart E of part 570 of

2 title 29, Code of Federal Regulations:

3 (A) The exemption provided in Order No.

4 2 (29 C.F.R. 570.52) shall apply to minors who

5 are at least 17 years of age and to driving that

6 is secondary and incidental to the minor’s main

7 occupation. Such exemption would be limited to

8 20 percent of the minor’s work in any workday

9 and may not exceed 5 percent of the minor’s

10 work in any workweek.

11 (B) Order No. 10 (29 C.F.R. 570.61) shall

12 apply with respect to restaurants and fast food

13 establishments. Such order shall prohibit indi14 viduals under the age of 18 from cleaning any

15 machinery irrespective of who has disassembled

16 the machinery.

17 (2) In the administration of the Fair Labor

18 Standards Act of 1938, the Secretary of Labor shall

19 find and declare that poultry processing, seafood

20 processing, paper baling, power driven meat slicing,

21 and pesticide handling are occupations that are par22 ticularly hazardous for the employment of children

23 between the ages of 16 and 18 for purposes of sec24 tion 3(l) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
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1 (b) CHILD LABOR REGULATIONS.—Under child labor

2 regulation No. 3 (subpart C of 29 C.F.R. 570 et seq.)—

3 (1) individuals under 16 shall be prohibited

4 from making door-to-door sales for profit,

5 (2) individuals under 16 shall be prohibited

6 from using fryers, baking equipment, and cooking

7 equipment in food service establishments, and

8 (3) strike out in section 570.34(b)(5) ‘‘(except

9 at soda fountains, lunch counters, snack bars, or

10 cafeteria serving counters)’’.

11 SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR VIOLA12 TIONS.

13 (a) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS THAT CAUSE INJURY OR

14 DEATH.—Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended by add15 ing at the end the following new subsection:

16 ‘‘(f) Any person who willfully violates the provisions

17 of section 12, relating to child labor, or any regulation

18 issued under such section, shall, on conviction be pun19 ished—

20 ‘‘(1) in the case of a willful violation that

21 causes serious bodily injury to an employee described

22 in section 3(l) but does not cause death to the em23 ployee, by a fine in accordance with section 3571 of

24 title 18, United States Code, or by imprisonment for

25 not more than 5 years, or by both, except that if the
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1 conviction is for a willful violation committed after

2 a first conviction of the person, the person shall be

3 punished by a fine in accordance with section 3571

4 of such title 18 or by imprisonment for not more

5 than 10 years, or by both; or

6 ‘‘(2) in the case of a willful violation that

7 causes death to an employee described in section

8 3(l), by a fine in accordance with section 3571 of

9 such title 18 or by imprisonment for not more than

10 10 years, or by both, except that if the conviction is

11 for a willful violation committed after a first convic12 tion of the person, the person shall be punished by

13 a fine in accordance with section 3571 of such title

14 18 or by imprisonment for not more than 20 years,

15 or by both.’’.

16 (b) NO PRIOR OFFENSE PREREQUISITE FOR CHILD

17 LABOR VIOLATION.—The second sentence of section 16(a)

18 is amended by inserting before the period at the end the

19 following: ‘‘, except that this sentence shall not apply to

20 a violation of section 12’’.

21 SEC. 6. CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS.

22 Section 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and

24 (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively;
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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection des2 ignation;

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new

4 paragraphs:

5 ‘‘(2) Any person who willfully violates the provisions

6 of section 12, relating to child labor, or any regulation

7 issued under such section, on more than one occasion,

8 shall, on such additional violation, be ineligible—

9 ‘‘(A) for any grant, contract, or loan provided

10 by an agency of the United States or by appro11 priated funds of the United States, for 5 years after

12 the date of such additional violation;

13 ‘‘(B) to pay the training wage authorized by

14 section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments

15 of 1989 (29 U.S.C. 206 note); or

16 ‘‘(C) to employ a minor for a period of 5 years

17 from the date of such violation.’’.

18 SEC. 7. CIVIL ACTIONS FOR CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS.

19 Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216), as amended by section

20 5, is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(g) Any employer who violates section 12 shall be

22 liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appro23 priate. An action to recover such relief may be brought

24 against any employer in any Federal or State court of

25 competent jurisdiction by any employee subject to the pro-
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1 tections of section 12 or by the employee’s survivors. The

2 court in such an action shall, in addition to any other

3 judgment awarded to the plaintiff, allow a reasonable at4 torney’s fee to be paid by the defendant and costs of the

5 action. If the employee or the employee’s survivors obtain

6 a judgment under this subsection and also seek recovery

7 for the same violation through State worker’s compensa8 tion, this subsection does not preclude a State from choos9 ing to offset recovery obtained under this subsection

10 against recovery provided through State worker’s com11 pensation.’’.

12 SEC. 8. COORDINATION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall es14 tablish and encourage closer working relationships among

15 Federal and State agencies having responsibility for en16 forcing labor, safety and health, and immigration laws.

17 (b) REFERRALS.—

18 (1) The Secretary of Labor shall establish a re19 ferral system under which employees engaged in the

20 enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

21 1938 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act

22 of 1970 shall—

23 (A) exchange information about suspected

24 violators of the Acts and monitor the results of

25 referrals to each other, and
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1 (B) provide basic training to each other’s

2 staffs concerning the requirements of such Acts.

3 (2) The Secretary of Labor shall require em4 ployees engaged in the enforcement of the Fair

5 Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Occupational

6 Safety and Health Act of 1970 to establish a

7 referral system with—

8 (A) employees of the Immigration and

9 Naturalization Service engaged in the enforce10 ment of the Immigration and Nationality Act,

11 and

12 (B) employees of Departments of Labor of

13 the States engaged in the enforcement of State

14 minimum wage and occupational safety and

15 health laws.

16 The Immigration and Naturalization Service and the

17 State Departments of Labor shall each be encour18 aged by the Secretary of Labor to establish informa19 tion exchanges and, to the extent practicable, pro20 vided training to each other’s staffs concerning the

21 requirements of the Acts enforced by the respective

22 agencies.

23 (c) ADVICE FROM PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS.—

24 The Secretary shall seek information and advice from rep25 resentative elements of the private sector and the non-
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1 Federal governmental sector with respect to the provisions

2 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and correspond3 ing regulations as they pertain to the employment of

4 minors.

5 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Secretary shall es6 tablish an Advisory Committee for Child Labor to provide

7 overall policy advice on matters referred to in subsection

8 (c). The Committee shall be composed of not less than

9 21 individuals, and shall include representatives of govern10 ment, labor, industry, education, agriculture, health pro11 fessions, small business, youth, service industries, retail12 ers, consumer interests, human rights, child welfare, and

13 the general public. The Committee shall meet quarterly

14 at the call of the Secretary or upon the call of a majority

15 of the Committee, a quorum being present. The Chair16 person of the Committee shall be elected by the Committee

17 from among its members. Members of the Committee shall

18 be appointed by the President for a period of 4 years and

19 may be reappointed for one or more additional periods.

20 The Secretary shall make available to the Committee such

21 staff, information, personnel, and administrative services

22 and assistance as it may reasonably require to carry out

23 its activities.
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1 SEC. 9. PUBLICATION OF VIOLATORS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall pub3 lish and disseminate the names and addresses of each per4 son who has willfully violated the provisions of section 12

5 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 relating to child

6 labor or any regulation under such section and the types

7 of violations committed by such person and shall distribute

8 the publication regionally.

9 (b) NOTICE TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS.—The Secretary

10 shall post and otherwise make available to affected school

11 districts the name of each employer who violates the provi12 sions of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

13 1938, relating to child labor, or any regulation issued

14 under such section together with a description of the loca15 tion and nature of the violation.

16 SEC. 10. COVERAGE.

17 The provisions of sections 12 and 16(e) of the Fair

18 Labor Standards Act of 1938 shall apply to employers re19 gardless of the annual dollar volume of sales whereby cer20 tain enterprises are exempted from coverage under such

21 Act.

22 SEC. 11. PROTECTION OF MINORS WHO ARE MIGRANT OR

23 SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS.

24 (a) DEFINITION OF OPPRESSIVE CHILD LABOR.—

25 The first sentence of section 3(l) (29 U.S.C. 203(l)) is

26 amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ before ‘‘(2)’’; and

2 (2) by inserting before the semicolon the follow3 ing: ‘‘, or (3) any employee under the age of 14

4 years is employed by an employer as a migrant agri5 cultural worker (as defined in section 3(8) of the Mi6 grant and Seasonal Agricultural Protection Act (29

7 U.S.C. 1802(8)) or seasonal agricultural worker (as

8 defined in section 3(10) of such Act)’’.

9 (b) EXEMPTIONS.—Section 13 (29 U.S.C. 213) is

10 amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by inserting before the

12 semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, except that

13 this paragraph shall not apply to an employee de14 scribed in section 3(l)(3)’’; and

15 (2) in subsection (c)—

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Except

17 as provided in paragraph (2) or (4)’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2),

19 (4), or (5)’’; and

20 (B) by adding at the end the following new

21 paragraph:

22 ‘‘(5) The provisions of section 12 relating to child

23 labor shall apply to an employee described in section

24 3(l)(3).’’.
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1 SEC. 12. REGULATIONS.

2 The Secretary of Labor shall issue such regulations

3 as are necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments

4 made by this Act.

5 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION.

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary of Labor such sums as may be necessary for the

8 additional costs resulting from the amendments made by

9 sections 2 and 5.

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