Child Labor Requirements 

In Agricultural Occupations 

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act 

(Child Labor Bulletin 102) 

U. S. Department of Labor 

Employment Standards Administration 

Wage and Hour Division 

WH-1295 

(Revised June 2007) 
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Contents 

 Federal Child Labor Laws 1

 Coverage of the Federal Child Labor Provisions 2

Parental Exemption from the Agricultural Provisions of the FLSA 3 

 Minimum Age Standards for Agricultural Employment 3

 Wage Payments to Young Workers on Farms 3

School Hours and Employment in Agriculture 4

The Hazardous Occupations Orders for Agricultural Employment 4 

 Exemptions from Hazardous Occupations Order in Agriculture 5 

 Student-Learners 5

 4-H Federal Extension Service Training Program 7

 Vocational Agriculture Training Program 7

 Age Certificates 7

 Recordkeeping for Employment of Minors in Agriculture 7 

Enforcement of the Federal Child Labor Provisions 8

 Penalties for Violation 8 

 Additional Information 9 

FEDERAL CHILD 

LABOR LAWS 

The Federal child labor 

provisions, authorized by 

the Fair Labor Standards 

Act (FLSA) of 1938, were 

enacted to ensure that when 

young people work, the 

work is safe and does not 

jeopardize their health, 

well-being or educational 

opportunities. By knowing, minimum wage, overtime, ages and conditions under 

understanding and 

complying with these 

provisions, agricultural 

employers, parents, and 

teachers can help working 

teens enjoy those safe, 

positive, early work 

experiences that can be so 

important to their 

development. discrimination protections 

CHILD LABOR 

BULLETIN No. 102 

This booklet is a guide to 

the provisions of the FLSA 

(also known as the “WageHour Law”) which applies 

to minors employed in 

agricultural occupations. 

In addition to child labor 

provisions, the FLSA 

contains provisions on 

and recordkeeping. 

See Child Labor Bulletin 

No. 101 for information 

regarding the employment 

of minors in 

nonagricultural 

occupations. 

OTHER CHILD LABOR 

LAWS 

Other Federal and State 

laws may have higher 

standards. When these 

apply, the more stringent 

standard must be observed. 

All States have child labor 

laws and compulsory 

school attendance laws, and 

also establish the minimum 

which youths may operate 

motor vehicles. 

Unless otherwise exempt, a 

covered minor employee is 

entitled to receive the same 

minimum wage, overtime, 

occupational safety and 

health, and nonas adult workers. 
Coverage of the Federal 

Child Labor Provisions 

The FLSA establishes minimum ages for 

covered employment in agriculture unless a 

specific exemption applies. Employees of 

farms are subject to FLSA’s child labor 

provisions if they are individually engaged in 

interstate commerce or in the production of 

goods for interstate commerce. An employee 

shall be deemed to have been engaged in the 

production of goods if such employee was 

employed in producing, manufacturing, 

mining, handling, transporting, or in any 

other manner working on such goods, or in 

any closely related process or occupation 

directly essential to the production thereof. 

In addition, all employees of a farm are 

covered under the FLSA on an enterprise 

basis if the annual gross volume of sales 

made or business done by the enterprise that 

owns the farm is not less than $500,000 

(exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level 

that are separately stated) and the enterprise 

employs workers engaged in commerce, or 

the production of goods for commerce, or 

who handle goods that have moved in 

commerce. Such covered employees include 

workers employed directly by the farmer, or 

by a covered contractor hired by the farmer, 

who: 

• cultivate the soil or grow or harvest 

crops; 

• raise livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, 

or poultry; 

• perform work which is incidental to the 

farming operations of that farm (such as 

threshing grain grown on that farm); 

• work off the farm as employees of the 

farmer performing work which is 

incidental to the farming operations of 

that farm (such as delivering produce to 

market by truck). 

Migrant and seasonal agricultural employees, 

regardless of their age and whether hired 

directly by the farmer or provided by a farm 

labor contractor – when covered by the FLSA 

– are entitled to the same protections as other 

farm workers. Both the farmer and the farm 

labor contractor may be jointly responsible 

for compliance with the minimum wage and 

child labor provisions of the FLSA. 

Some farm employees may not be 

performing agricultural work, but may still be 

subject to the provisions of the FLSA. Please 

check Child Labor Bulletin 101, Child Labor 

Requirements in Nonagricultural 

Occupations under the Fair Labor Standards 

Act, for additional information. 

Young entrepreneurs who cut their 

neighbor’s lawn or perform babysitting on a 

casual basis for farmers are not covered 

under the FLSA. 

For more information regarding the coverage 

of farms under FLSA, see Agricultural 

Employers under the Fair Labor Standards 

Act (FLSA), Fact Sheet No. 12, located on the 

Department’s Website at http://www.dol.gov/ 

whd/regs/compliance/whdfs12.htm 

The Federal Child Labor Provisions in 

Agriculture Do Not: 

• require minors to obtain “working 

papers” or “work permits,” though some 

States do; 

• limit the number of hours or times of day 

(other than outside of school hours) that 

young farm workers may legally work, 

though a few States do. 

Check with the applicable State Department 

of Labor for guidance concerning State laws. 

These Offices can be located at 

www.youthrules.dol.gov. 

2
Parental Exemption from the Agricultural 

Provisions of the FLSA 

A child of any age may be employed by his 

or her parent or person standing in place of 

the parent at any time in any occupation on a 

farm owned or operated by that parent or 

person standing in place of that parent. 

Minimum Age Standards for 

Agricultural Employment 

16 Minors who are at least 16 years of 

age may perform any farm job, 

including agricultural occupations 

declared hazardous by the Secretary of 

Labor, at any time, including during 

school hours. 

14 Minimum age for employment 

outside of school hours in any 

agricultural occupation except those 

declared hazardous by the Secretary 

of Labor. 

12 May be employed outside of school 

& hours with written parental consent or 

13 on a farm where the minor’s parent 

or person standing in place of the 

parents is also employed. 

Under May be employed outside of 

12 school hours with parental consent on 

a farm where employees are exempt 

from the Federal minimum wage 

provisions. 

These requirements are published in Section 570.2(b) of Part 

570 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

Although Section 13(c)(4) of the FLSA 

contains provisions allowing the Secretary of 

Labor to consider granting requests for 

waivers from employers that would permit 

local minors 10 and 11 years of age to be 

employed outside of school hours in the hand 

harvesting of crops under certain conditions, 

the Department has been enjoined from 

issuing such waivers (see National Ass’n of 

Farmworkers Organizations v. Marshall, 628 

F.2d 604 [D.C. Cir. 1980]). 

Wage Payments to Young Workers on 

Farms 

Minimum Wage 

Covered minor employees must be paid at 

least the statutory minimum wage for all 

hours worked unless otherwise exempt or 

employed under conditions discussed below. 

The minor’s pay may be computed on the 

basis of an hourly rate, a piece rate, a day 

rate, a salary, or any combination thereof 

– but the minor’s hourly earnings must 

average at least the applicable minimum wage. 

Employees under 20 years of age may be 

paid $4.25 per hour during their first 

consecutive 90 calendar days of employment 

with an employer. Certain full-time students, 

student learners, apprentices and workers 

with disabilities may be paid less than the 

minimum wage under special certificates 

issued by the Department of Labor. 

Under Section 13(a)(6)(A) of the FLSA, any 

employer in agriculture who did not utilize 

more than 500 "man days" of agricultural 

labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding 

calendar year is exempt from the minimum 

wage and overtime pay provisions of the 

FLSA for the current calendar year. A "man 

day" is defined as any day during which an 

employee performs agricultural work for at 

least one hour. 

Overtime 

Agricultural employees are not subject to the 

overtime provisions of the FLSA [see Section 

13(b)(12)]. 

3
School Hours and Employment in 

Agriculture 

Minors under the age of 16 may not be 

employed during school hours unless 

employed by their parent or a person standing 

in place of their parent. The term school 

hours is defined as those set by the official 

calendar of the school district in which a 

minor is living while employed in 

agriculture. No exception may be made for 

the early release of individual children or any 

class or grade to work in agriculture. Work 

before or after school hours, during 

weekends, or on other days that the school 

does not assemble is considered outside 

school hours. 

For example, if the school is in session from 

9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. in the school district 

where the minor is living while working on a 

farm, the minor may work only before 9:00 

a.m. or after 3:00 p.m. on school days. 

The requirement that minors be employed 

outside the school hours of the public school 

district in which the minor is living while 

employed in agriculture applies even if that 

minor does not attend public school. These 

hours apply when the minor attends a private 

or parochial school, is home schooled, or has 

completed his or her formal education.Ψ

A crew leader who takes young migrant 

workers to an area where schools are open 

may not allow minors under 16 to work 

during the hours school is in session in the 

school district where the farm work is being 

done. Seasonal agricultural workers, who 

Ψ Minors are exempted from this provision and may 

work during school hours if (1) they have been 

excused from compulsory school attendance by the 

State or other jurisdiction on religious grounds once 

they have reached a certain age (at least 14) and/or 

attained a certain grade level, and (2) they are 

employed in compliance with all the requirements of 

the State school attendance law. 

return to their residences at the end of the 

day, are governed by the hours of the school 

district in which they reside when performing 

the work. 

These provisions are discussed in Regulations, 29 CFR Part 

570.123 

The Hazardous Occupations Orders for 

Agricultural Employment (HO/As) 

The FLSA provides a minimum age of 16 

years for any agricultural occupations which 

the Secretary of Labor finds and declares to 

be particularly hazardous for persons under 

the age of 16, or detrimental to their health 

and well-being. The Secretary of Labor has 

found and declared that the following 

occupations are hazardous for minors under 

16 years of age. 

1. Operating a tractor of over 20 powertake-off (PTO) horsepower, or 

connecting or disconnecting an 

implement or any of its parts to or from 

such a tractor. 

2. Operating or assisting to operate 

(including starting, stopping, adjusting, 

feeding or any other activity involving 

physical contact associated with the 

operation) any of the following machines: 

a. corn picker, cotton picker, grain 

combine, hay mower, forage 

harvester, hay baler, potato digger, 

mobile pea viner; 

b. feed grinder, crop dryer, forage 

blower, auger conveyer, or the 

unloading mechanism of a 

nongravity-type self-unloading 

wagon or trailer; or 

c. power post hole diggers, power post 

driver, or nonwalking type rotary 

tiller. 

3. Operating or assisting to operate 

(including starting, stopping, adjusting, 

4
feeding, or any other activity involving 

physical contact associated with the 

operation) any of the following machines: 

a. trencher or earthmoving equipment; 

b. forklift; 

c. potato combine; or 

d. power-driven circular, band, or chain 

saw. 

4. Working on a farm in a yard, pen, or stall 

occupied by a: 

a. bull, boar, or stud horse maintained 

for breeding purposes; 

b. a sow with suckling pigs, or a cow 

with a newborn calf (with umbilical 

cord present). 

5. Felling, bucking, skidding, loading, or 

unloading timber with butt diameter of 

more than 6 inches. 

6. Working from a ladder or scaffold 

(painting, repairing, or building 

structures, pruning trees, picking fruit, 

etc.) at a height of over 20 feet. 

7. Driving a bus, truck, or automobile when 

transporting passengers or riding on a 

tractor as a passenger or helper. 

8. Working inside: 

a. a fruit, forage, or grain storage 

designed to retain an oxygen 

deficient or toxic atmosphere; 

b. an upright silo within 2 weeks after 

silage has been added or when a top 

unloading device is in operating 

position; 

c. a manure pit; or 

d. a horizontal silo while operating a 

tractor for packing purposes. 

9. Handling or applying toxic agricultural 

chemicals (including cleaning or 

decontaminating equipment, disposal or 

return of empty containers, or serving as 

a flagman for aircraft applying such 

chemicals). Such toxic chemicals are 

identified by the word “poison,” or 

“warning,” or are identified by a “skull 

and crossbones” on the label. 

10. Handling or using a blasting agent, 

including but not limited to, dynamite, 

black powder, sensitized ammonium 

nitrate, blasting caps, and primer cord; or 

11. Transporting, transferring, or applying 

anhydrous ammonia.

 These Orders are published in Subpart E-1 of Part 570 of 

 Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 

Exemptions from Hazardous Occupations 

Orders (HO/As) in Agriculture 

These prohibitions on employment in 

hazardous occupations in agriculture do not 

apply to youths employed on farms owned or 

operated by their parents. In addition, the 

following limited exemptions from these 

prohibitions apply: 

Student-Learners 

Student-learners in a bona fide vocational 

agricultural program may work in the 

occupations listed in paragraph 1 through 6 

of the hazardous occupations orders in 

agriculture under a written agreement which 

provides all of the following conditions: 

1. The student-learner is enrolled in a course 

of study and training in a vocational 

education training program in agriculture 

under a recognized State or local 

educational authority or in a substantially 

similar program conducted by a private 

school. 

2. Such student-learner is employed under a 

written agreement which provides: 

5
a. that the work of the student-learner is 

incidental to the training; 

b. that such work shall be intermittent, 

for short periods of time, and under 

the direct and close supervision of a 

qualified and experienced person; 

c. that safety instruction shall be given 

by the school and correlated by the 

employer with on-the-job training; 

and 

d. that a schedule of organized and 

progressive work processes to be 

performed on the job shall have been 

prepared. 

3. Each such written agreement shall 

contain the name of the student-learner, 

and shall be signed by the employer and 

by a person authorized to represent the 

educational authority or school. 

4. Copies of each agreement shall be kept 

on file by both the employer and either 

the educational authority or the school. 

This exemption for the employment of 

student-learners may be revoked in any 

individual situation if it is found that 

reasonable precautions have not been 

observed for the safety of minors employed 

thereunder. 

Although the regulations do not provide 

definitions of the terms intermittent and short 

periods of time, the Wage and Hour Division 

interprets those terms to mean that a studentlearner may not be the principal operator of 

prohibited machinery. The minor must work 

under the close supervision of a fully 

qualified and experienced adult, such as a 

journeyman. Further, the duties assigned the 

minor may not be such that he or she is 

constantly operating the prohibited 

machinery during the work shift, but only 

doing so as part of the training experience. 

This would preclude a student-learner from 

being a production worker, responsible for 

spending a significant portion of the workday 

operating prohibited machinery or 

performing prohibited tasks. The Wage and 

Hour Division considers the continuous 

performance of otherwise prohibited work 

that exceeds one hour a day to be more than 

intermittent and more than for short periods 

of time. The Wage and Hour Division also 

considers the performance of otherwise 

prohibited work which totals more than 20% 

of the student-learner’s work shift to be more 

than for short periods of time. 

The regulations do not define the term direct 

and close supervision. The Wage and Hour 

Division’s interpretation of direct and close 

supervision as it applies to student-learners is 

based on guidance pertaining to apprentices 

received from the Bureau of Apprenticeship 

and Training (BAT) which is part of the U. S. 

Department of Labor’s Employment and 

Training Administration. BAT establishes 

ratios governing the number of journeymen 

and apprentices that may be employed on the 

job site in order to ensure worker safety and 

that the apprentices receive both proper 

training and supervision. BAT has advised 

the Wage and Hour Division that the most 

widely used ratio is one apprentice for the 

first journeyman on-site, and one apprentice 

for every three additional journeymen 

thereafter. The Wage and Hour Division 

considers the requirement of direct and close 

supervision to be met when there is one 

experienced adult working with the first 

student-learner on-site, and at least three 

experienced adults working alongside each 

additional student-learner. Of course, the 

requirement for direct and close supervision 

applies only during the periods when the 

student-learner is actually performing work 

that would otherwise be prohibited by the 

HO/A.

 The requirements regarding Student-Learners are published 

 in Section 570.72(a), 29 CFR Part 570. 

6
4-H Federal Extension Service Training 

Program 

Fourteen- and 15-year-old minors who hold 

certificates of completion of either the tractor 

operation or machine operation training 

program under 4-H may work outside school 

hours in the occupations for which they have 

been trained. Occupations for which these 

certificates are valid are covered by items 1 

and 2 of the Hazardous Occupations Orders 

in Agriculture listed on page 4 of this 

publication. Farmers employing minors who 

have completed these programs must keep a 

copy of the certificates of completion on file 

with the minor’s records. 

 These requirements are published in Section 570.72(b) of 

 Part 570 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 

Vocational Agriculture Training Program 

Fourteen and 15-year-old minors who hold 

certificates of completion of either the tractor 

operation or machine operation program of 

the U.S. Office of Education Vocational 

Agriculture Training Program may work in 

the occupations for which they have been 

trained. Occupations for which these 

certificates are valid are covered by items 1 

and 2 of the Hazardous Occupations Order in 

Agriculture listed on page 4 of this 

publication. Farmers employing minors who 

have completed these programs must keep a 

copy of the certificates of completion on file 

with the minor’s records. 

 These requirements are published in Section 570.72(c) of

 Part 570 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 

Age Certificates 

Employers may protect themselves from 

unintentional violation of the child labor 

provisions by keeping on file an employment 

or age certificate for each minor employed to 

show that the minor is the minimum age for 

the job. Certificates issued under most State 

laws are acceptable for purposes of the 

FLSA. 

These requirements are published in Subpart B of Part 

570 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 

Certificates of Age. 

Recordkeeping for Employment of Minors 

in Agriculture 

Every employer of a minor under 18 years of 

age in agriculture shall maintain and preserve 

records containing the following information: 

• Name in full. 

• Place where the minor lives while 

employed. If the minor’s permanent 

address is elsewhere, both addresses 

should be recorded (this is required for 

minor farmworkers – other than those 

employed by a parent or person standing 

in place of a parent – who are employed 

on days when school is in session or on 

any day when employed in an occupation 

found to be hazardous by the Secretary of 

Labor). 

• Date of birth. 

• The written consent of the parent or 

persons standing in place of the parent of 

the minor, if written consent is required 

to employ the minor on a farm. 

Additional records may be required by 

Regulations, 29 CFR Part 516.2. 

The FLSA does not require that a parent or 

person standing in the place of a parent 

employing his or her own children on a farm 

owned or operated by such a parent or person 

maintain records concerning the employment 

of his or her own children. 

 These requirements are published in Sections 516.2 and 

 516.33 of Part 516 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal 

 Regulations, Records to be Kept by Employers. 

7
Enforcement of the Federal Child Labor 

Provisions 

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour 

Division administers and enforces the child 

labor, minimum wage, overtime, and 

recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor 

Standards Act. The Wage and Hour Division 

also has enforcement responsibility for 

programs covering such things as prevailing 

wages for government contracts, the payment 

of special minimum wages, farm labor, 

family and medical leave, immigration, and 

polygraph testing. The FLSA authorizes 

Wage and Hour Division Investigators to 

conduct investigations and gather data on 

wages, hours of work, and compliance with 

the child labor provisions. 

 These requirements are published in Sec. 11 of the Fair 

 Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §211) 

Penalties for Violation 

Civil Money Penalties 

Employers may be subject to a civil money 

penalty of up to $11,000 for each employee 

who is the subject of a child labor violation. 

When a child labor civil money penalty is 

assessed against an employer, the employer 

has the right, within 15 days after receipt of 

the notice of such penalty, to file an 

exception to the determination that the 

violation or violations of the child labor 

provisions occurred. When such an 

exception is filed with the office making the 

assessment, the matter is referred to the Chief 

Administrative Law Judge, and a formal 

hearing is scheduled. At such a hearing, the 

employer may, or an attorney retained by the 

employer may, present such witnesses, 

introduce such evidence, and establish such 

facts as the employer believes will support 

the exception. The determination of the 

amount of any civil money penalty becomes 

final if no exception is taken to the 

administrative assessment thereof. If an 

exception is properly and timely filed, then 

the decision of the Administrative Law 

Judge, or the Department of Labor’s 

Administrative Review Board when 

applicable, becomes the final order. 

These requirements are published in Part 579 of Title 29 of 

 the Code of Federal Regulations, Child Labor Violations, 

 Civil Money Penalties; and in Part 580 of Title 29 of the 

 Code of Federal Regulations, Civil Money Penalties - 

Procedures for Assessing and Contesting Penalties. 

Hot Goods Injunction 

The FLSA authorizes the Department of 

Labor to seek injunctions to halt interstate 

shipment of goods tainted by “oppressive 

child labor.” FLSA Section 12(a)(29 U.S.C. 

§212(a)) prohibits interstate commerce in 

such “hot” goods, stating that “[n]o producer, 

manufacturer, or dealer shall ship or deliver 

for shipment in commerce any goods 

produced in an establishment in the United 

States in or about which within 30 days prior 

to the removal of such goods therefrom any 

oppressive child labor [as defined in FLSA 

Section 3(l), 29 U.S.C. 203(l)] has been 

employed.” It is not necessary for the 

employees to be working on the goods that 

are removed for shipment in order for those 

goods to be considered “hot goods.” 

These requirements are published in Sec. 12(a) of the Fair 

Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §212(a)) 

Injunction to Compel Compliance 

The FLSA authorizes the Department of 

Labor to seek injunctions against violators of 

the child labor provisions to compel their 

compliance with the law. Further violations 

could result in sanctions against such persons 

for contempt of court. 

These requirements are published in Sec. 17 of the Fair 

Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §217) 

8
Criminal Sanctions 

The FLSA also provides that any person who 

willfully violates any of the youth 

employment requirements of Section 12 of 

the Act shall upon conviction thereof be 

subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or 

to imprisonment for not more than six 

months, or both. But no person shall be 

imprisoned under this provision until he or 

she is convicted of a second offense. 

These requirements are published in Sec. 16(a) of the Fair 

Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. §216(a)) 

Additional Information 

Inquiries about the Fair Labor Standards Act 

or any other law administered by the Wage 

and Hour Division may be addressed to any 

local office of the Wage and Hour Division. 

Additional information is available on our 

Home Page located at: 

http://www.wagehour.dol.gov/ 

To locate the Wage and Hour Division office 

nearest to you, telephone our toll-free 

information and helpline at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243): a customer 

service representative is available to assist 

you with referral information from 8am to 

5pm in your own time zone; or log onto the 

nationwide listing of Wage-Hour District 

Offices located at: 

http://www.dol.gov/WHD/america2.htm 

9