The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 defines and prohibits the employment of "oppressive child labor" in the United States. The act establishes a general minimum age of 16 years for employment in non-hazardous occupations and a minimum age of 18 years for employment in any occupation determined by the Secretary of Labor to be hazardous to the health or well-being of minors. However, children younger than 16 may work if certain conditions are met, and rules for agricultural and nonagricultural employment vary significantly. Not all oppressive child labor is unlawful under the FLSA. The act's child labor provisions do not apply, for example, to child entrepreneurs and children who volunteer their time for charitable organizations. Certain occupations (e.g., newspaper delivery) are entirely excluded from coverage. Children who in no way participate, support, or work for enterprises that engage in interstate commercial activities nor work in proximity to establishments that ship goods across state lines are also not covered. This report is a guide to the FLSA child labor provisions, accompanying Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, and their administration. Taken together, these constitute what is commonly known as "federal child labor law." In addition, all states have child labor laws, compulsory schooling requirements, and other laws that govern children's employment and activities. No state law may weaken the worker protections provided by the FLSA. However, state laws that impose greater worker protections will supersede those provided by the FLSA. Such state protections are not discussed in this report. The FLSA includes four child labor provisions, two of which address the employment of oppressive child labor, which the act defines—with some exceptions—as the employment of youth under the age of 16 in any occupation or the employment of youth under 18 years in hazardous occupations. These provisions—at Section 12(c) and Section 12(a) of the act—create a direct and an indirect prohibition on the employment of oppressive child labor, respectively. Section 12(c) of the FLSA creates a direct ban on the employment of oppressive child labor under certain conditions. Section 12(c) states, No employer shall employ any oppressive child labor in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or in any enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. Section 12(a) of the FLSA restricts the shipment of certain goods that have been produced in proximity to oppressive child labor—called "hot goods." It provides, in relevant part, No producer, manufacturer, or dealer shall ship or deliver for shipment in commerce any goods produced in an establishment situated in the United States in or about which within thirty days prior to the removal of such goods therefrom any oppressive child labor has been employed. This provision does not ban the employment of oppressive child labor directly, but restricts the interstate shipment of goods made in proximity to oppressive child labor. Child workers are protected under this provision even if they are not employed by the establishment that produces and ships the goods. The FLSA child labor provisions may apply to an individual child, an enterprise in which a child works, or an establishment that produces goods in proximity to child labor. These three types of coverage—individual, enterprise, and establishment—have somewhat different formulations, but each requires three elements: 1. Oppressive child labor . With some exceptions, oppressive child labor means the employment of youth under the age of 16 in any occupation or the employment of youth under 18 years in hazardous occupations. 2. Employment r elationship . The child must be employed by an employer (i.e., the child is not an entrepreneur or an unpaid volunteer). 3. Commerce . FLSA defines commerce as "trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States, or between any State and any place outside thereof." Where one of these elements is missing—for example, where there is no employment relationship between a child and an employer—the FLSA child labor provisions do not apply. In addition, certain occupations (e.g., newspaper delivery) and work arrangements (e.g., children working for a parent) are explicitly exempt from the child labor provisions. Where so exempt, the provisions do not apply even if all three elements listed above are present. A child worker may be covered by Section 12(c) on an individual or enterprise basis. The child is covered individually if he or she is employed in oppressive child labor and engages in interstate or foreign commerce (e.g., regularly handles interstate or international mail, completes credit card transactions, uses the telephone to make interstate or international calls) or produces goods for interstate or foreign commerce. An enterprise is covered by the FLSA child labor provisions—and coverage extends to children employed in oppressive child labor therein—if it has at least two employees who engage in interstate or foreign commerce and has "annual sales or business done" of at least $500,000. Regardless of the dollar volume of business, the act applies to hospitals; residential institutions providing medical or nursing care; schools (including higher education institutions); and federal, state, and local government agencies . An establishment is covered by Section 12(a) of the act (i.e., the hot goods provision) if it produces goods in proximity to (i.e., "in or about") the employment of oppressive child labor. The goods produced are called hot goods and they may not be shipped out of state while the oppressive child labor is present and for 30 days after the removal of the oppressive child labor. An establishment is covered by Section 12(a) even if it is not the employer of the oppressive child labor and even if the child is not covered by the FLSA provisions on an individual or enterprise basis. The FLSA excludes certain occupations and work arrangements entirely from coverage of its child labor provisions: Children with a p arental e mployer . A child who works for a parent or a person standing in place of a parent (hereafter "parent") in an occupation other than manufacturing, mining, or hazardous work may be employed at any age and for any number of hours. Child p erformers . Children of any age may be employed as actors or performers in motion pictures or in theatrical, radio, or television productions. Newspaper d elivery p ersons . Children of any age may be employed to deliver newspapers to consumers. Evergreen w reath p roduce r s ( h omebased) . Children of any age may be employed as homeworkers to make evergreen wreaths and to harvest forest products used in making such wreaths. The act also relaxes restrictions on oppressive child labor in select occupations or industries—notably agriculture—by exempting them from the child labor provisions when certain conditions are met. For example, children who are 14 years old—and in some cases, at any age—may by employed in agriculture outside of school hours. Congress amended the FLSA to expand the set of permissible activities for 16- and 17-year-old children working with scrap balers and paper box compactors, for 17-year-old children to drive cars and trucks, and for children who are at least 14 years old and excused from compulsory schooling to work in establishments that operate power-driven woodworking machines (but they are not allowed to operate the machines). The FLSA defines oppressive child labor, generally, as the employment of a child under the age of 16 years in any occupation and the employment of a child under the age of 18 in an occupation determined to be hazardous to children by the Secretary of Labor. However, the act includes several exemptions to the child labor provisions and the oppressive child labor definition that create a complex set of thresholds that depend on the child's age, local school hours, the nature of the work (e.g., occupation, industry, and work environment), parental involvement in the child's employment, and other factors. Notably, exemptions to the act's child labor provisions create separate rules governing children's employment in non-agricultural and agricultural work. For non-exempt children, the minimum age for employment in non-agricultural occupations is 18 years for occupations determined by the Secretary of Labor to be hazardous to the health and well-being of children (i.e., "hazardous occupations"); 16 years for employment in non-hazardous occupations; and 14 years for a limited set of occupations, with restrictions on hours and work conditions, as determined by the Secretary of Labor. Under federal law, a child under the age of 14 may not be employed unless his or her employment is explicitly excluded from the definition of oppressive child labor (e.g., a parent is the child's sole employer in a non-hazardous occupation) or exempt from the FLSA child labor provisions (e.g., newspaper delivery). The act directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a list of occupations—other than mining and manufacturing—that do not constitute oppressive child labor for children who are 14 and 15 years old, based on the Secretary's determination that "such employment is confined to periods which will not interfere with their schooling and to conditions which will not interfere with their health or well-being."