II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3142 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to expand the prohibition 

related to child labor, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to expand 

the prohibition related to child labor, and for other purposes. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Labor Account5 ability Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT 

7 OF 1938. 

8 Section 12(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

9 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘thirty’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘90’’. 

2 

•S 3142 IS

1 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON CHILD LABOR LAW VIO2 LATIONS. 

3 Section 4 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

4 (29 U.S.C. 204) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON CHILD LABOR LAW

7 VIOLATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of enactment of the Child Labor Ac10 countability Act of 2023, and annually thereafter, 

11 the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney 

12 General and the head of any other relevant Federal 

13 agency, shall submit a report to Congress that— 

14 ‘‘(A) contains summary data on violations 

15 of the provisions of section 12 or 13(c), relating 

16 to child labor, in the year preceding the date of 

17 submission of the report, including— 

18 ‘‘(i) the number of complaints of po19 tential violations of such provisions re20 ceived by the Secretary in such year; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the number of— 

22 ‘‘(I) investigations of potential 

23 violations of such provisions that are 

24 ongoing as of the date of submission 

25 of the report; and 

3 

•S 3142 IS

1 ‘‘(II) investigations of potential 

2 violations of such provisions that have 

3 concluded in such year; 

4 ‘‘(iii) with respect to violations of such 

5 provisions in such year— 

6 ‘‘(I) the total number of such vio7 lations; 

8 ‘‘(II) the number of such viola9 tions disaggregated by the industry in 

10 which such violation occurred; 

11 ‘‘(III) the number of such viola12 tions disaggregated by the provision 

13 of law that was violated; 

14 ‘‘(IV) the average and median 

15 number of child employees involved in 

16 such violations; 

17 ‘‘(V) the total number of child 

18 employees involved in such violations, 

19 disaggregated by characteristics in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(aa) the age of such child 

22 employee; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) the sex of such child 

24 employee; and 

4 

•S 3142 IS

1 ‘‘(VI) the number of such viola2 tions that caused the death or serious 

3 injury of any child employee involved 

4 in such violation; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the total, average, and median 

6 amount of penalties assessed under section 

7 16(e)(1)(A) in such year; 

8 ‘‘(v) with respect to criminal penalties 

9 under section 16(a) for violations of sec10 tion 15(a)(4)— 

11 ‘‘(I) the number of individuals 

12 charged under such section for such a 

13 violation in such year, disaggregated 

14 by characteristics including— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the age of such indi16 vidual; 

17 ‘‘(bb) the sex of such indi18 vidual; and 

19 ‘‘(cc) the relationship of 

20 such individual to any child em21 ployee involved in the relevant 

22 violation of section 15(a)(4); and 

23 ‘‘(II) the number of individuals 

24 convicted under such section for such 

5 

•S 3142 IS

1 a violation in such year, disaggregated 

2 by characteristics including— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the age of such indi4 vidual; 

5 ‘‘(bb) the sex of such indi6 vidual; and 

7 ‘‘(cc) the relationship of 

8 such individual to any child em9 ployee involved in the relevant 

10 violation of section 15(a)(4); and 

11 ‘‘(vi) any other information deter12 mined relevant by the Secretary; 

13 ‘‘(B) includes information on any activities 

14 in such year by the Secretary of Labor, in co15 operation with State, Tribal, and local law en16 forcement, to identify, investigate, and pros17 ecute violations of the provisions of section 12 

18 or 13(c), relating to child labor; 

19 ‘‘(C) describes trends with respect to such 

20 violations in such year; and 

21 ‘‘(D) includes recommendations to Con22 gress for combating such violations. 

23 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF CHILD EMPLOYEE.—For 

24 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘child emVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:44 Oct 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3142.IS S3142
6 

•S 3142 IS

1 ployee’ means an employee who is younger than 18 

2 years of age.’’. 

Æ