Youth Worker Protection Act

Bill: 108-hr-3139
Sponsor: Rep. Lantos, Tom [D-CA-12]
Introduced: 2003-09-23 in the House
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agricultural labor
Agricultural machinery
Agriculture and Food
Child labor
Child safety
Civil actions and liability
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal investigation
Criminal justice information
Damages
Department of Labor
Dropouts
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Elementary education
Entertainers
Families
Fines (Penalties)
Food industry
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Government statistics
Health
Hours of labor
Injunctions
Internet
Labor statistics
Law
Legal fees
Licenses
Local laws
Machinery
Mandatory sentences
Medical records
Medical statistics
Minors
Occupational health and safety
Oils and fats
Paper and paper products
Parent and child
Parent-school relationships
Recidivists
Retail trade
School administration
Science, Technology, Communications
Seafood
Secondary education
State laws
Student employment
Web sites
Workers' compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2003-09-23
text: 
Youth Worker Protection Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to revise provisions relating to child labor and to set forth new requirements relating to the employment of minors.
 
Establishes FLSA requirements for employment of minors, including those for: (1) work permits; (2) working-hour restrictions for minors in specified age groups, and in relation to school attendance; (3) notification of serious work-related injuries; (4) data compilation, retention, and reporting by State agencies; (5) prohibition of youth peddling; (6) civil actions for bodily injury, illness, or death; (7) public disclosure of violations; and (8) civil penalties.
 
Revises FLSA child labor provisions to: (1) set the same minimum age requirements for children in agricultural employment as for those in nonagricultural employment; (2) impose a uniform minimum age for employment in all hazardous occupations; (3) eliminate the Secretary of Labor's authority to issue waivers with respect to certain hand harvest labor by children; (4) eliminate an exception for scrap paper balers and paper box compactors; and (5) declare that youth peddling affects commerce (and thus is subject to Federal regulation).
 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate: (1) a rule relating to particularly hazardous occupations for children between the ages of 16 and 18, based on a specified report and recommendations of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); and (2) a rule prohibiting employment of minors in seafood processing or in jobs requiring them to handle or dispose of oil or other liquids from fryers. 
 
Requires the Secretary to review: (1) restricted occupation and hazardous occupation orders, at least once every five years; and (2) health and safety data on employment of minors in activities involving certain repetitive motions, or lifting, or working alone or late at night in retail establishments with public contact and cash handling, or entertainment industry work detrimental to them, and report with appropriate rules to Congress.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-10-14
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
action_date: 2003-10-01
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1949-1950)
action_date: 2003-09-24
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1873-1874)
action_date: 2003-09-23
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2003-09-23
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2003-09-23
text: Introduced in House