Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety of 2022 or the CARE Act of 2022
This bill revises labor provisions for protecting child workers, including those employed in agriculture, and increases the civil penalties for violations of such provisions and imposes new criminal penalties for violations resulting in the death or serious injury or illness of a child worker.
Specifically, the bill revises the definition of oppressive child labor to prohibit the employment of children under 14 years of age and imposes new employer reporting requirements for work-related injuries or deaths of agricultural employees under the age of 18.
The Department of Labor must analyze, collect, and report on data concerning children under the age of 18 who are employed in agriculture and each work-related injury, illness, or death of any such child. Labor must also revise regulations to prohibit the employment of a child under the age of 18 as a pesticide handler.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7345 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7345
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
March 31, 2022
Ms. Roybal-Allard (for herself, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Bass, Mr. Carson, Ms.
Chu, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. DeLauro, Mr.
Gallego, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Khanna, Mrs.
Napolitano, Ms. Norton, Ms. Porter, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Takano, Ms.
Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Wilson of Florida, and Ms. Jayapal)
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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Act for Responsible
Employment and Farm Safety of 2022'' or the ``CARE Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Across the United States, there are hundreds of
thousands of children younger than 18 years old who are working
in the agricultural industry. 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 immigrants, 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 occupations, as well as the scope of the work that
they are engaged in. One thing that is notable is that unlike
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
protections provided to workers in other industries under
Federal employment laws. Even where protections exist under
Federal law, they are seldom ever enforced.
(4) Allowing children to engage in agricultural work from a
young age can result in long-term negative consequences,
especially when the child worker is not employed on a family
farm where family members take precautions for their children
and family members. Working in agriculture as a child can
result 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 fatalities at
over four times the rate of other young workers, often because
exceptions are made that allow farmworker children to operate
heavy, dangerous equipment and to be exposed to other hazards.
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
conditions, result in shocking drop-out rates from school.
Aside from these risks, farmworker girls are exceptionally
vulnerable to sexual abuse and harassment 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 agricultural labor,
primarily through strengthened general 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 employment
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 particularly 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 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 AGRICULTURAL 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 inserting 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 outside of school hours for the school
district where such employee is living by his or her parent, or
by a person standing in the place of the parent, on a farm
owned by the parent or person.
``(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 manufacturing,
mining, or any other employment 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 amended--
(1) by striking ``person'' each place it appears and
inserting ``employer'';
(2) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) by striking ``not to exceed'' and inserting
``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 $60,115 with
regard to each such violation that causes the serious injury,
serious illness, or death of any employee under the age of 18
years, which penalty may be doubled where the violation is a
repeated or willful violation.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term `serious illness'
means any abnormal condition or disorder resulting from an event or
exposure in the work environment. Illnesses which result from events or
exposures on the employer's premises are presumed to be work
related.''.
SEC. 6. SPECIAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN AGGRAVATED 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.''.
SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON WORK-RELATED INJURIES 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 CHILDREN AND RELATED
MATTERS.
``(a) Data Analysis.--Using the sources specified in subsection
(b), the Secretary shall analyze data concerning 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 annually submit
report to Congress which shall include--
``(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 related 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 accordance with subsection (c).
``(b) Events Specified.--An event referred to in subsection (a)
is--
``(1) a work-related serious injury to an employee under 18
years of age employed in agriculture;
``(2) the discovery of a work-related serious illness 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 employee;
``(3) details relevant to the incident, to include
environmental hazards, such as chemical or pesticide exposure,
use of machinery or tools at time of incident, 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 assess a civil penalty
on any employer who fails to file a 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 2022; or
``(2) the date that is 6 months after the date of the
enactment of such Act.''.
SEC. 9. PESTICIDE-RELATED WORKER PROTECTION STANDARD.
(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 children.
(b) Requirement for Secretary of Labor.--Not later than the date
that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Labor shall revise part 570 of title 29, Code of Federal
Regulations, to prohibit the employment of a child under the age of 18
to perform any of the tasks or duties described in the definition 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 Register.
(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 employees that are greater than the protections or
remedies provided under such amendments or such revision.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
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