I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2234 

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

relating to child labor. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2011 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 

strengthen 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Act for Re5 sponsible Employment of 2011’’ or the ‘‘CARE Act of 

6 2011’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AMENDED DEFINITIONS. 

8 Section 3(l) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

9 (29 U.S.C. 203(l)) is amended to read as follows: 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2234 IH

1 ‘‘(l) ‘Oppressive child labor’ means a condition of em2 ployment under which— 

3 ‘‘(1) any employee who is 16 or 17 years of age 

4 is employed by an employer in any occupation found 

5 by the Secretary and by order declared to be par6 ticularly hazardous for the employment of children 

7 between such ages or detrimental to their health or 

8 well-being; 

9 ‘‘(2) any employee who is 14 or 15 years of age 

10 is employed by an employer, unless the Secretary 

11 has determined that the employment is confined to 

12 periods which will not interfere with the schooling of 

13 the employee, and that the conditions of employment 

14 will not interfere with the health and well-being of 

15 the employee; or 

16 ‘‘(3) any employee who is under 14 years of age 

17 is employed by an employer.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. REVISED AGE REQUIREMENT FOR CHILD AGRICUL19 TURAL EMPLOYMENT; REPEAL OF WAIVER 

20 PROVISION FOR HAND HARVEST LABORERS. 

21 (a) REVISED AGE REQUIREMENT.—Section 13(c) of 

22 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(c)) 

23 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and insert24 ing the following: 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2234 IH

1 ‘‘(1) The provisions of section 12 relating to 

2 child labor shall not apply to any employee under 18 

3 years of age who is employed in agriculture by his 

4 or her parent, or by a person standing in the place 

5 of the parent, on a farm owned by the parent or per6 son. 

7 ‘‘(2) The provisions of section 12 relating to 

8 child labor shall not apply to any employee under 16 

9 years of age who is employed by his or her parent, 

10 or by a person standing in the place of the parent, 

11 in employment other than agricultural employment, 

12 manufacturing, mining, or any other employment 

13 the Secretary finds to be particularly hazardous for 

14 the employment of a child 16 or 17 years of age or 

15 detrimental to their health or well being.’’. 

16 (b) REPEAL OF WAIVER PROVISION.—Section 13(c) 

17 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 213(c)) is further amended by 

18 striking paragraph (4) and redesignating paragraphs (5) 

19 through (7) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively. 

20 SEC. 4. INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR 

21 VIOLATIONS. 

22 Paragraph (1) of section 16(e) of the Fair Labor 

23 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)) is amend24 ed— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2234 IH

1 (1) by striking ‘‘person’’ each place it appears 

2 and inserting ‘‘employer’’; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘not to exceed’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘of’’; and 

6 (B) by amending clauses (i) and (ii) to 

7 read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(i) not less than $500 and not more than 

9 $15,000 for each employee who was the subject of 

10 such a violation; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) not less than $15,000 and not more than 

12 $50,000 with regard to each such violation that 

13 causes the serious injury, serious illness, or death of 

14 any employee under the age of 18 years, which pen15 alty may be doubled where the violation is a re16 peated or willful violation.’’; and 

17 (3) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘the term 

18 ‘serious injury’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘the terms ‘se19 rious injury’ and ‘serious illness’ mean’’. 

20 SEC. 5. SPECIAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN AG21 GRAVATED CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS. 

22 Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

23 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2234 IH

1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Any person’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (f), 

3 any person’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(f) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates 

6 any of the provisions of section 12, and such violations 

7 result in or cause the death or serious injury or serious 

8 illness of an employee under 18 years of age at the time 

9 of such violation, shall be subject to imprisonment for not 

10 more than 5 years or a fine under title 18, United States 

11 Code, or both.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. PESTICIDE-RELATED WORKER PROTECTION STAND13 ARD. 

14 Congress finds and declares that the employment of 

15 children under the age of 18 in the occupation of a pes16 ticide handler as defined in the worker protection standard 

17 for workers exposed to pesticides in part 170 of title 40, 

18 Code of Federal Regulations, is particularly hazardous to 

19 such children and detrimental to their health and well20 being. The Secretary of Labor shall revise part 570 of title 

21 29, Code of Federal Regulations, to prohibit the employ22 ment of a child under the age of 18 to perform any of 

23 the tasks or duties described in the definition of the term 

24 ‘‘handler’’ in section 170.3 of title 40, Code of Federal 

25 Regulations. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2234 IH

1 SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF FAIR LABOR STANDARDS AMEND2 MENTS. 

3 (a) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Labor may pre4 scribe rules as necessary to implement the amendments 

5 made by sections 2 through 5 and the revision required 

6 by section 6. Any such rules issued shall take effect not 

7 later than 30 days after the date on which such rules are 

8 published in the Federal Register. 

9 (b) VIOLATIONS.—The amendments made by sections 

10 2, 3, 4, and 5 and the revision required by section 7 shall 

11 apply to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

12 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) that occur after the date 

13 on which the rules issued under subsection (a) take effect. 

14 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 

15 amendments made by section 3, 4, or 5 or in the revision 

16 required by section 7 shall be construed to preempt any 

17 State law that provides protections or remedies for em18 ployees that are greater than the protections or remedies 

19 provided under such amendments or such revision. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS