I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1870
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reform the provisions
relating to child labor.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 12, 1997
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.
BROWN of California, Ms. CARSON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DELLUMS,
Ms. ESHOO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr.
FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ,
Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. MANTON, Mr. MILLER of California,
Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. RANGEL,
Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TORRES, Mr. VENTO,
Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mr. YATES) introduced the follow-
ing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
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-