I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3394 

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

relating to child labor, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2019 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

SERRANO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SIRES, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BASS, Mr. 

SABLAN, Ms. MOORE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, and 

Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 

strengthen the provisions relating 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 ‘‘Children’s Act for Re5 sponsible Employment and Farm Safety of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘CARE Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Across the United States, there are hun4 dreds of thousands of children younger than 18 

5 years old who are working in the agricultural indus6 try. It is difficult to know exactly how many children 

7 are performing the grueling work that is required to 

8 plant, pick, process, and pack the food that people 

9 eat every day. 

10 (2) For farmworkers, many of whom are immi11 grants, all of whom are poor and some of whom are 

12 undocumented, it is challenging to capture accurate 

13 data that reflects both the percentage of children 

14 working in one of the nation’s most dangerous occu15 pations, as well as the scope of the work that they 

16 are engaged in. One thing that is notable is that un17 like virtually every other job in the labor market, 

18 Congress has made exceptions to allow children to 

19 lawfully work in this industry. 

20 (3) Historically, children have been permitted to 

21 work in agriculture at younger ages, for longer 

22 hours and under more hazardous conditions than 

23 other working children. Like most other agricultural 

24 workers, they remain excluded from basic protec25 tions provided to workers in other industries under 

26 Federal employment laws. Even where protections 


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1 exist under Federal law, they are seldom ever en2 forced. 

3 (4) Allowing children to engage in agricultural 

4 work from a young age can result in long-term nega5 tive consequences, especially when the child worker 

6 is not employed on a family farm where family mem7 bers take precautions for their children and family 

8 members. Working in agriculture as a child can re9 sult in an early end to childhood, and long hours 

10 worked at unfair and unlawful wages can pose risks 

11 to their overall health and lives. 

12 (5) Child farmworkers suffer work-related fa13 talities at over four times the rate of other young 

14 workers, often because exceptions are made that 

15 allow farmworker children to operate heavy, dan16 gerous equipment and to be exposed to other haz17 ards. Yet, great efforts have been taken to strictly 

18 limit the possibility of children in other industries 

19 from engaging in dangerous work activities or jobs. 

20 The demands imposed by doing agricultural work, 

21 coupled with the low pay and poor working condi22 tions, result in shocking drop-out rates from school. 

23 Aside from these risks, farmworker girls are excep24 tionally vulnerable to sexual abuse and harassment 


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1 by supervisors, company owners, crew leaders, co2 workers and others. 

3 (6) While the focus of this Act is on improving 

4 the health and safety for all children engaged in ag5 ricultural labor, primarily through strengthened gen6 eral wage and hour protections, the high rates of 

7 workplace sexual violence against farmworker women 

8 and girls should not be ignored, particularly given 

9 that they are susceptible to this violence due to the 

10 overall lack of workplace protections available to 

11 them. 

12 SEC. 3. AMENDED DEFINITIONS. 

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

14 (29 U.S.C. 203(l)) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(l) ‘Oppressive child labor’ means a condition of em16 ployment under which— 

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

18 is employed by an employer in any occupation found 

19 by the Secretary and by order declared to be par20 ticularly hazardous for the employment of children 

21 between such ages or detrimental to their health or 

22 well-being; 

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

24 is employed by an employer, unless the Secretary 

25 has determined that the employment is confined to 


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1 periods which will not interfere with the schooling of 

2 the employee, and that the conditions of employment 

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

4 the employee; or 

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

6 is employed by an employer.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. REVISED AGE REQUIREMENT FOR CHILD AGRICUL8 TURAL EMPLOYMENT; REPEAL OF WAIVER 

9 PROVISION FOR HAND HARVEST LABORERS. 

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

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

12 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and insert13 ing the following: 

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

15 child labor shall not apply to any employee under 18 

16 years of age who is employed in agriculture by his 

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

18 of the parent, on a farm owned by the parent or per19 son. 

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

21 child labor shall not apply to any employee under 16 

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

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

24 in employment other than agricultural employment, 

25 manufacturing, mining, or any other employment 


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1 the Secretary finds to be particularly hazardous for 

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

3 detrimental to their health or well-being.’’. 

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

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

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

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

8 SEC. 5. INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR 

9 VIOLATIONS. 

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

11 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)) is amend12 ed— 

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

14 and inserting ‘‘employer’’; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘not to exceed’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘of’’; and 

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

19 read as follows: 

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

21 $15,000 for each employee who was the subject of 

22 such a violation; or 

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

24 $50,000 with regard to each such violation that 

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


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1 any employee under the age of 18 years, which pen2 alty may be doubled where the violation is a re3 peated or willful violation.’’; and 

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

5 ‘serious injury’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘the terms ‘se6 rious injury’ and ‘serious illness’ mean’’. 

7 SEC. 6. SPECIAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN AG8 GRAVATED CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS. 

9 Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

10 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 

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

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

13 any person’’; and 

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

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

16 any of the provisions of section 12, if violations result in 

17 or cause the death or serious injury or serious illness of 

18 an employee under 18 years of age at the time of such 

19 violation, shall be subject to imprisonment for not more 

20 than 5 years or a fine under title 18, United States Code, 

21 or both.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON WORK-RELATED INJU2 RIES TO CHILDREN AND RELATED MATTERS. 

3 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended 

4 by inserting after section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212) the following 

5 new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 12A. DATA ON WORK-RELATED INJURIES TO CHIL7 DREN AND RELATED MATTERS. 

8 ‘‘(a) DATA ANALYSIS.—Using the sources specified 

9 in subsection (b), the Secretary shall analyze data con10 cerning children under the age of 18 who are employed 

11 in agriculture and each work-related injury, illness, or 

12 death of any such child. 

13 ‘‘(b) SOURCES SPECIFIED.—The sources referred to 

14 in subsection (a) are the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) Sources within the Department of Labor, 

16 including the Wage and Hour Division, the Bureau 

17 of Labor Statistics, and the Occupational Safety and 

18 Health Administration. 

19 ‘‘(2) State employment security agencies and 

20 other relevant State agencies. 

21 ‘‘(3) The National Institute for Occupational 

22 Safety and Health. 

23 ‘‘(c) REPORT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu25 ally submit report to Congress which shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a summary of the data collected by 

2 the Secretary under this section and section 

3 12B; 

4 ‘‘(B) an evaluation, based on such data, 

5 that reflects the status of child labor and re6 lated safety and health hazards; and 

7 ‘‘(C) any information, based on such data, 

8 that leads the Secretary to believe that children 

9 under 18 years of age may have been employed 

10 in violation of section 12. 

11 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall, on 

12 the date that the Secretary submits each report 

13 under paragraph (1) to Congress, publish each such 

14 report in the Federal Register and ensure that such 

15 reports are posted on the Department of Labor 

16 website.’’. 

17 SEC. 8. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

18 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

19 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the new section 

20 12A the following new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 12B. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than 5 days after an event 

23 specified under subsection (b), the employer involved in 

24 the event shall submit a report to the Secretary in accord25 ance with subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(b) EVENTS SPECIFIED.—An event referred to in 

2 subsection (a) is— 

3 ‘‘(1) a work-related serious injury to an em4 ployee under 18 years of age employed in agri5 culture; 

6 ‘‘(2) the discovery of a work-related serious ill7 ness of an employee under 18 years of age employed 

8 in agriculture; or 

9 ‘‘(3) the work-related death of an employee 

10 under 18 years of age employed in agriculture. 

11 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

12 (a) shall include— 

13 ‘‘(1) the name and address of the employer; 

14 ‘‘(2) the name, address, and age of the em15 ployee; 

16 ‘‘(3) details relevant to the incident, to include 

17 environmental hazards, such as chemical or pesticide 

18 exposure, use of machinery or tools at time of inci19 dent, work tasks performed at time of incident, and 

20 other details relating to the incident; and 

21 ‘‘(4) such other information as the Secretary of 

22 Labor may by regulation prescribe. 

23 ‘‘(d) FAILURE TO REPORT.—The Secretary may as24 sess a civil penalty on any employer who fails to file a 


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1 report as required by this section in an amount not less 

2 than $500 and not more than $7,000 per violation. 

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘serious 

4 injury’ and ‘serious illness’ have the meanings given such 

5 terms in section 16(e)(1)(B). 

6 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements under 

7 this section shall take effect on the date that is the earlier 

8 of— 

9 ‘‘(1) the date on which the Secretary issues a 

10 rule under section 10(a) of the CARE Act of 2019; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(2) the date that is 6 months after the date 

13 of the enactment of such Act.’’. 

14 SEC. 9. PESTICIDE-RELATED WORKER PROTECTION STAND15 ARD. 

16 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDING.—Congress finds and 

17 declares that the employment of children under the age 

18 of 18 in the occupation of a pesticide handler, as such 

19 occupation is defined in the worker protection standard 

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

21 Code of Federal Regulations, is particularly hazardous for, 

22 and detrimental to the health and well-being of, such chil23 dren. 

24 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR SECRETARY OF LABOR.— 

25 Not later than the date that is 30 days after the date of 


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1 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall revise 

2 part 570 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, to pro3 hibit the employment of a child under the age of 18 to 

4 perform any of the tasks or duties described in the defini5 tion of the term ‘‘handler’’ in section 170.3 of title 40, 

6 Code of Federal Regulations. 

7 SEC. 10. APPLICATION OF FAIR LABOR STANDARDS 

8 AMENDMENTS. 

9 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the date that is 

10 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

11 Secretary of Labor may prescribe rules as necessary to 

12 implement the amendments made by sections 3 through 

13 6 and the revision required by section 8. Any such rules 

14 issued shall take effect not later than 30 days after the 

15 date on which the rules are published in the Federal Reg16 ister. 

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

18 3 through 6 and the revision required by section 9 shall 

19 apply to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

20 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) that occur after the date 

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

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

23 amendments made by section 4, 5, or 6 or in the revision 

24 required by section 9 shall be construed to preempt any 

25 State law that provides protections or remedies for emVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jun 26, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3394.IH H3394

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1 ployees that are greater than the protections or remedies 

2 provided under such amendments or such revision. 

Æ 


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