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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Act for Re-
sponsible Employment and Farm Safety of 2019’’ or the 
‘‘CARE Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Across the United States, there are hun-
dreds of thousands of children younger than 18 
years old who are working in the agricultural indus-
try. It is difficult to know exactly how many children 
are performing the grueling work that is required to 
plant, pick, process, and pack the food that people 
eat every day. 
(2) For farmworkers, many of whom are immi-
grants, all of whom are poor and some of whom are 
undocumented, it is challenging to capture accurate 
data that reflects both the percentage of children 
working in one of the nation’s most dangerous occu-
pations, as well as the scope of the work that they 
are engaged in. One thing that is notable is that un-
like virtually every other job in the labor market, 
Congress has made exceptions to allow children to 
lawfully work in this industry. 
(3) Historically, children have been permitted to 
work in agriculture at younger ages, for longer 
hours and under more hazardous conditions than 
other working children. Like most other agricultural 
workers, they remain excluded from basic protec-
tions provided to workers in other industries under 
Federal employment laws. Even where protections 
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exist under Federal law, they are seldom ever en-
forced. 
(4) Allowing children to engage in agricultural 
work from a young age can result in long-term nega-
tive consequences, especially when the child worker 
is not employed on a family farm where family mem-
bers take precautions for their children and family 
members. Working in agriculture as a child can re-
sult in an early end to childhood, and long hours 
worked at unfair and unlawful wages can pose risks 
to their overall health and lives. 
(5) Child farmworkers suffer work-related fa-
talities at over four times the rate of other young 
workers, often because exceptions are made that 
allow farmworker children to operate heavy, dan-
gerous equipment and to be exposed to other haz-
ards. Yet, great efforts have been taken to strictly 
limit the possibility of children in other industries 
from engaging in dangerous work activities or jobs. 
The demands imposed by doing agricultural work, 
coupled with the low pay and poor working condi-
tions, result in shocking drop-out rates from school. 
Aside from these risks, farmworker girls are excep-
tionally vulnerable to sexual abuse and harassment 
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by supervisors, company owners, crew leaders, co- 
workers and others. 
(6) While the focus of this Act is on improving 
the health and safety for all children engaged in ag-
ricultural labor, primarily through strengthened gen-
eral wage and hour protections, the high rates of 
workplace sexual violence against farmworker women 
and girls should not be ignored, particularly given 
that they are susceptible to this violence due to the 
overall lack of workplace protections available to 
them. 
SEC. 3. AMENDED DEFINITIONS. 
Section 3(l) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 203(l)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(l) ‘Oppressive child labor’ means a condition of em-
ployment under which— 
‘‘(1) any employee who is 16 or 17 years of age 
is employed by an employer in any occupation found 
by the Secretary and by order declared to be par-
ticularly hazardous for the employment of children 
between such ages or detrimental to their health or 
well-being; 
‘‘(2) any employee who is 14 or 15 years of age 
is employed by an employer, unless the Secretary 
has determined that the employment is confined to 
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periods which will not interfere with the schooling of 
the employee, and that the conditions of employment 
will not interfere with the health and well-being of 
the employee; or 
‘‘(3) any employee who is under 14 years of age 
is employed by an employer.’’. 
SEC. 4. REVISED AGE REQUIREMENT FOR CHILD AGRICUL-
TURAL EMPLOYMENT; REPEAL OF WAIVER 
PROVISION FOR HAND HARVEST LABORERS. 
(a) REVISED AGE REQUIREMENT.—Section 13(c) of 
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(c)) 
is amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) The provisions of section 12 relating to 
child labor shall not apply to any employee under 18 
years of age who is employed in agriculture by his 
or her parent, or by a person standing in the place 
of the parent, on a farm owned by the parent or per-
son. 
‘‘(2) The provisions of section 12 relating to 
child labor shall not apply to any employee under 16 
years of age who is employed by his or her parent, 
or by a person standing in the place of the parent, 
in employment other than agricultural employment, 
manufacturing, mining, or any other employment 
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the Secretary finds to be particularly hazardous for 
the employment of a child 16 or 17 years of age or 
detrimental to their health or well-being.’’. 
(b) REPEAL OF WAIVER PROVISION.—Section 13(c) 
of such Act (29 U.S.C. 213(c)) is further amended by 
striking paragraph (4) and redesignating paragraphs (5) 
through (7) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively. 
SEC. 5. INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR 
VIOLATIONS. 
Paragraph (1) of section 16(e) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘person’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘employer’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘not to exceed’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘of’’; and 
(B) by amending clauses (i) and (ii) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(i) not less than $500 and not more than 
$15,000 for each employee who was the subject of 
such a violation; or 
‘‘(ii) not less than $15,000 and not more than 
$50,000 with regard to each such violation that 
causes the serious injury, serious illness, or death of 
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any employee under the age of 18 years, which pen-
alty may be doubled where the violation is a re-
peated or willful violation.’’; and 
(3) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘the term 
‘serious injury’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘the terms ‘se-
rious injury’ and ‘serious illness’ mean’’. 
SEC. 6. SPECIAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN AG-
GRAVATED CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS. 
Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Any person’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (f), 
any person’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates 
any of the provisions of section 12, if violations result in 
or cause the death or serious injury or serious illness of 
an employee under 18 years of age at the time of such 
violation, shall be subject to imprisonment for not more 
than 5 years or a fine under title 18, United States Code, 
or both.’’. 
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SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON WORK-RELATED INJU-
RIES TO CHILDREN AND RELATED MATTERS. 
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended 
by inserting after section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212) the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 12A. DATA ON WORK-RELATED INJURIES TO CHIL-
DREN AND RELATED MATTERS. 
‘‘(a) DATA ANALYSIS.—Using the sources specified 
in subsection (b), the Secretary shall analyze data con-
cerning children under the age of 18 who are employed 
in agriculture and each work-related injury, illness, or 
death of any such child. 
‘‘(b) SOURCES SPECIFIED.—The sources referred to 
in subsection (a) are the following: 
‘‘(1) Sources within the Department of Labor, 
including the Wage and Hour Division, the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics, and the Occupational Safety and 
Health Administration. 
‘‘(2) State employment security agencies and 
other relevant State agencies. 
‘‘(3) The National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health. 
‘‘(c) REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu-
ally submit report to Congress which shall include— 
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‘‘(A) a summary of the data collected by 
the Secretary under this section and section 
12B; 
‘‘(B) an evaluation, based on such data, 
that reflects the status of child labor and re-
lated safety and health hazards; and 
‘‘(C) any information, based on such data, 
that leads the Secretary to believe that children 
under 18 years of age may have been employed 
in violation of section 12. 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall, on 
the date that the Secretary submits each report 
under paragraph (1) to Congress, publish each such 
report in the Federal Register and ensure that such 
reports are posted on the Department of Labor 
website.’’. 
SEC. 8. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the new section 
12A the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 12B. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than 5 days after an event 
specified under subsection (b), the employer involved in 
the event shall submit a report to the Secretary in accord-
ance with subsection (c). 
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‘‘(b) EVENTS SPECIFIED.—An event referred to in 
subsection (a) is— 
‘‘(1) a work-related serious injury to an em-
ployee under 18 years of age employed in agri-
culture; 
‘‘(2) the discovery of a work-related serious ill-
ness of an employee under 18 years of age employed 
in agriculture; or 
‘‘(3) the work-related death of an employee 
under 18 years of age employed in agriculture. 
‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 
(a) shall include— 
‘‘(1) the name and address of the employer; 
‘‘(2) the name, address, and age of the em-
ployee; 
‘‘(3) details relevant to the incident, to include 
environmental hazards, such as chemical or pesticide 
exposure, use of machinery or tools at time of inci-
dent, work tasks performed at time of incident, and 
other details relating to the incident; and 
‘‘(4) such other information as the Secretary of 
Labor may by regulation prescribe. 
‘‘(d) FAILURE TO REPORT.—The Secretary may as-
sess a civil penalty on any employer who fails to file a 
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report as required by this section in an amount not less 
than $500 and not more than $7,000 per violation. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘serious 
injury’ and ‘serious illness’ have the meanings given such 
terms in section 16(e)(1)(B). 
‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements under 
this section shall take effect on the date that is the earlier 
of— 
‘‘(1) the date on which the Secretary issues a 
rule under section 10(a) of the CARE Act of 2019; 
or 
‘‘(2) the date that is 6 months after the date 
of the enactment of such Act.’’. 
SEC. 9. PESTICIDE-RELATED WORKER PROTECTION STAND-
ARD. 
(a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDING.—Congress finds and 
declares that the employment of children under the age 
of 18 in the occupation of a pesticide handler, as such 
occupation is defined in the worker protection standard 
for workers exposed to pesticides in part 170 of title 40, 
Code of Federal Regulations, is particularly hazardous for, 
and detrimental to the health and well-being of, such chil-
dren. 
(b) REQUIREMENT FOR SECRETARY OF LABOR.— 
Not later than the date that is 30 days after the date of 
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enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall revise 
part 570 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, to pro-
hibit the employment of a child under the age of 18 to 
perform any of the tasks or duties described in the defini-
tion of the term ‘‘handler’’ in section 170.3 of title 40, 
Code of Federal Regulations. 
SEC. 
10. 
APPLICATION 
OF 
FAIR 
LABOR 
STANDARDS 
AMENDMENTS. 
(a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the date that is 
6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Labor may prescribe rules as necessary to 
implement the amendments made by sections 3 through 
6 and the revision required by section 8. Any such rules 
issued shall take effect not later than 30 days after the 
date on which the rules are published in the Federal Reg-
ister. 
(b) VIOLATIONS.—The amendments made by sections 
3 through 6 and the revision required by section 9 shall 
apply to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) that occur after the date 
on which the rules issued under subsection (a) take effect. 
(c) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 
amendments made by section 4, 5, or 6 or in the revision 
required by section 9 shall be construed to preempt any 
State law that provides protections or remedies for em-
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ployees that are greater than the protections or remedies 
provided under such amendments or such revision. 
Æ 
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