I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2119
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reform the provisions
relating to child labor.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 10, 1999
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. PORTER, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr.
BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BRADY of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. DAVIS of
Illinois, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA,
Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Mr. GUTIERREZ,
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms.
KAPTUR, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr.
LIPINSKI, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mrs. MALONEY
of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of
California, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR,
Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.
PHELPS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. SANDERS, Ms.
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. STARK, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr.
THOMPSON
of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Ms.
VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. VENTO, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WYNN) 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 reform
the provisions relating to child labor.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE: REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Young American Workers’ Bill of Rights’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
SEC. 2. REPORTING AND RECORDKEEPING.
(a) CHILD-LABOR LAWS.—Section 12 (29 U.S.C.
212) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary and the United States Census
Bureau shall compile data from respective State employ-
ment security agencies in all the States (A) on the types
of industries and occupations in which children under the
age of 18 are employed and on the types of industries and
occupations in which children who are 18 and full-time
students in a high school are employed, and (B) on cases
in which it was determined that minors were employed in
violation of this section. The first such compilation shall
be completed not later than 2 years after the date of en-
actment of the Young American Workers’ Bill of Rights
and each subsequent compilation shall be completed not
later than 3 years thereafter.
‘‘(2) If a minor in the course of employment suffers
death or an injury or illness resulting in lost work time
of at least 1 working day, not later than 5 days after the
death, injury, or illness, the employer of the minor shall
provide to the State agency a written description of the
death, injury, or illness.
‘‘(3) The Secretary of Health and Human Services,
in conjunction with the Secretary of Labor, shall issue an
annual report on the status of child labor in the United
States and its attendant safety and health hazards.’’.
SEC. 3. CERTIFICATES OF EMPLOYMENT.
Section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(e)(1) As used in this subsection, the term ‘parents’
means the biological parents of a minor or other individual
standing in loco parentis to a minor and the term ‘minor’
means an individual who is under the age of 18 and who
has not received a high school diploma or its equivalent
or who is 18 and enrolled full-time in a high school.
‘‘(2) No employer shall employ a minor unless the
minor possesses a valid certificate of employment issued
in accordance with this subsection.
‘‘(3) The Governor of a State shall designate a State
agency to issue certificates of employment to minors in
the State. The agency shall make available, on request,
a form for the application described in paragraph (4) and
shall make available, as part of the certification process,
materials describing applicable Federal requirements gov-
erning the employment of minors and the minor’s rights
under such requirements.
‘‘(4) To be eligible to receive a certificate of employ-
ment, a minor must submit to the appropriate State agen-
cy an application that contains—
‘‘(A) the name and address of the minor;
‘‘(B) proof of age of the minor;
‘‘(C) if the minor is under the age of 18 or is
age 18 and enrolled full-time in a high school—
‘‘(i) a written statement by the parents or
legal guardian of the minor that the parents
grant consent for employment of the minor; and
‘‘(ii) a written verification from the mi-
nor’s school that the minor is meeting at least
the minimum school attendance requirements
established by the State and that such employ-
ment will not interfere with the schooling of the
minor; and
‘‘(D) the employer’s name, address, signature;
and
‘‘(E) with respect to the employment—