exploitation of american children continues in 2023

By: Kenneth A. Sprang, Esq

Recently, I have written of the disturbing growth of child labor, with companies literally robbing children of their childhood for profit.  Federal law governing child labor is found in the Fair Labor Standards Act, the same statute that guarantees time and one half for overtime (more than 40 hours per week for most persons) and the Federal Minimum Wage of $7.25 per hour.  The FLSA child labor provisions were enacted to ensure that when young people work, their work is safe and does not jeopardize their health, well-being or educational opportunities.

Under the Act, there is generally a16-year minimum age which applies to all employment subject to the child labor regulations, in any occupation other than in agriculture.  The Act and the regulations promulgated under the Act, “seek to protect the safety, health, well-being, and opportunities for schooling of youthful workers,” and they “authorize the Secretary of Labor to issue orders or regulations under certain conditions.”  The law provides that “no producer, manufacturer, or dealer shall ship or deliver for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce any goods produced in an establishment in or about which oppressive child labor was employed within 30 days before removal of the goods.”

The law prohibits “oppressive child labor in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.”  The term “commerce” or “in commerce” generally means interstate commerce.

Oppressive child labor means a condition of employment under which an employee under the age of 16 is employed by an employer  in any occupation.  That definition is clearer when read in conjunction with the remainder of the Regulations.  Moreover, there are numerous exceptions or variations to this rule.

One must be at least 16 for employment in manufacturing or mining occupations, although certain youth between the ages of 14 and 18 may, under specific conditions, may be employed inside and outside of places of business that use power-driven machinery to process wood products.

The Act provides for a minimum age of 18 in occupations which the Secretary finds to be particularly hazardous or detrimental to the health or well-being of minors aged 16 and 17.   

The following are illustrative of jobs that are off limits for 14- and 15-year-olds:

• Manufacturing, mining, or processing occupations, including jobs requiring the work in work rooms or workplaces where goods are manufactured, mined or otherwise processed.
• Occupations that the Secretary of Labor finds and declares to be hazardous for the employment of minors between 16 and 18 years of age or detrimental to their health or well-being.
• Occupations that involve operating, tending, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing hoisting apparatus.
• Work performed in or about boiler or engine rooms or in connection with the maintenance or repair of the establishment, machines, or equipment.
• Occupations that involve operating, tending, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing any power-driven machinery, e.g., lawn mowers, golf carts, weed-eaters, food slicers, food grinders, food cutters. Youth 14 and 15years old may, however, operate office equipment, vacuum cleaners and floor waxers. 
• Public messenger service

Minors between the ages of 14 and 15 may, for example, may do

• Office and clerical work, including the operation of office machines.
• Work of an intellectual or artistically creative nature such as computer programming, writing software, singing, playing a musical instrument, and drawing, as long as such employment complies with all the other provisions of the regulations. Artistically creative work is limited to work in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.
• Cooking with electric or gas grills which does not involve cooking over an open flame Cooking is also permitted with deep fryers that are equipped with and utilize a device which automatically lowers the baskets into the hot oil or grease and automatically raises the baskets from the hot oil or grease.
• Cashiering, selling, modeling, artwork.
• Bagging and carrying out customers' orders.
• Errand and delivery work by foot, bicycle, and public transportation.
• Kitchen work including operating dishwashers, toasters, dumbwaiters, popcorn poppers, milk shake blenders, coffee grinders, automatic coffee machines, devices used to maintain the temperature of prepared foods (such as warmers, steam tables, and heat lamps), and microwave ovens that are used only to warm prepared food and do not have the capacity to warm above 140 °F. Minors are permitted to clean kitchen equipment (not otherwise prohibited), remove oil or grease filters, pour oil or grease through filters, and move receptacles containing hot grease or hot oil, but only when the equipment, surfaces, containers and liquids do not exceed a temperature of 100 °F. Minors are also permitted to occasionally enter freezers momentarily to retrieve items in conjunction with restocking or food preparation.
• Serve as a Lifeguard. Fifteen year olds (but not 14-year-olds) may perform lifeguard duties when they have been trained and certified by the American RedCross, or a similar certifying organization, in aquatics and water safety.

This list is not exhaustive.  There are also special rules for kids working in farming activities.  The idea, of course, is that we do not want our kids engaged in work that could be harmful to them.  

In addition, with respect to school age kids, we are concerned about hours of work because we want education prioritized.  Therefore, children under 16 are bound by the following: They are to work only outside of school hours.

1. A child may not work more than 40 hours in any one week when school is not in session.
2. A child is limited to 18 hours in any one week when school is in session.
3. The child may not work more than eight hours in any one day when school is not in session.
4. A child is limited to no more than three hours in any one day when school is in session, including Fridays.
5. Children may only work during the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in any one day, except during the summer (June 1 through Labor Day) when the evening hour will be 9 p.m.

The above is but an overview of the regulations as there are innumerable exceptions and clarifications.  The long and the short of it is that kids should be in school and that should be their first priority.  Work should not interfere with education.  Also, work for kids should not be unduly dangerous.

Notwithstanding the regulations, around the country an increasing number of employers are violating the regulations causing hazard to American children nationwide.  In recent months there has been an increase in the abuse of migrant children who, of course, are much more vulnerable the most other kids.

One 13-year-old girl was working the graveyard shift around dangerous brisket saws and bone cutters in a meat packing plant.  She had been hired by a cleaning company, illegally, along with more than two dozen other teens. Her employer, Packers Sanitation Services, a contractor hired to clean the facility, was fined (a modest fine when measured by the company’s profits). However, the girl saw her whole life fall apart. First, she lost her job, which paid her $19 per hour.  She also suffered burned and blistered skin.  Then her stepfather was sent to jail for driving her to work each night, which was a violation of state child labor laws.  Her mother faces jail time for securing the fake papers needed to get the job in the first place.  Her whole family is now terrified of being sent back to Guatemala, their homeland.  The family left several years ago in search of a better life. As the police led her father away in handcuffs, the girl hugged her mother.  When asked how she felt, she had a one-word response: “Bad.”

The Labor Department in March 2023 reported a 69% increase in minors employed in violation of federal law since 2018. Between 2018 and 2022, federal regulators opened cases for 4,144 child labor violations covering 15,462 youth workers, according to federal data.

There has been some movement in Congress to strengthen child labor protection. Bipartisan legislation introduced in March in the House and Senate would fine employers up to $601,150 for each violation causing serious injury or death.  This proposal matches the White House’s proposal included in President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan.  Currently the Labor Department can issue fines of up to $15,138 per violation and $68,801 for violations that cause serious injury or death. Such fines for large corporations like Packers Sanitation are so insignificant that they may not even be noticed.  In fact, many companies just include such fines as a cost of doing business.

The Labor Department fined Packers Sanitation Services, the subcontractor for meatpacking plants in the South and Midwest, $1.5 million for illegally employing 102 minors.  It was Packers who employed the 13-year-old who was forced to use caustic chemicals and clean “razor-sharp saws,” head splitters and other dangerous equipment.  It was the maximum allowable fine under federal law.  That $1.5 million fine represented about a single day of Packers’ income.

Similarly, a parts supplier for automaker Hyundai paid $30,000 in fines to the federal government and $35,000 to Alabama regulators for employing children as young as 13 in an assembly plant. The company reported almost $124 million in 2022 net income.

Congress has been urged by the Biden Administration to increase the fines to meaningful numbers.

Unfortunately, despite all the evidence of increased child labor law violations, Republican-controlled states are continuing to pursue legislation to strip certain child labor protections, e.g., loosening rules that prevent children from working long hours in dangerous conditions and eliminating important record-keeping which is intended to ensure that underage workers are old enough to perform hazardous jobs.

A new law in Arkansas passed earlier in April of this year increased the state’s minimum child labor fine from $50 to $100, and the maximum from $1,000 to $5,000. It was enacted less than a month after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) approved legislation rolling back the state’s child labor laws.

Recently Republican state lawmakers in Wisconsin circulated a new bill that would allow workers as young as 14 to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants, a reduction from state’s current minimum age of 18. According to Republican sponsors, the legislative proposal “creates a simple solution” to workforce staffing issues.

In recent months there have been Republican-led bills in Georgia, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa aimed at making it easier for teenagers to work in more jobs and for more hours in the day. These efforts have overlapped with shocking exposés in the New York Times and the Washington Post that uncovered the exploitation of migrant children working illegally in the United Staters.

Over the last two years, at least 10 states have introduced or enacted laws to change the rules governing teenage work requirements. In 2022, New Hampshire and New Jersey extended the hours teenagers could work. In New Hampshire 14-year-olds are now allowed to bus tables where alcohol is served, down from 15 years old.  In New Jersey teens can now work during the summer as much as 40 hours a week for 14- and 15-year-olds and 50 hours per week for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Some rule changes — like allowing teens to work later in the summer — seem pretty harmless.  However, others cause greater concern, like a proposal in Minnesota to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work on construction sites, and one in Iowa that would allow 14-year-olds to work in meat coolers. Observers worry about a general slippery slope wherein loosening child labor laws will send a message to employers that enforcement will be even more relaxed than it already is.

For example, a federal labor investigation recently found 10 children working illegally in Arkansas cleaning hazardous meatpacking equipment.  Nevertheless, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders readily signed the “Youth Hiring Act” — a law eliminating Arkansas’ requirement that 14- and 15-year-olds get work permits. Republicans complained that these permits, which required proof of age, parental permission and an employer’s signature, created an arbitrary burden. 

Some conservatives have long seen child labor laws as government overreach, arguing that rules for minors should be left up to individual families. Others simply oppose most forms of government regulation. And still others see youth labor restrictions as an unnecessary barrier at a time when companies are struggling to hire workers.

The infamous Koch brothers have long used their fortunes to support rolling back child labor restrictions. In 1980, David Koch ran for vice-president on the Libertarian Party ticket and pledged to “abolish” child labor laws.  In 1982, the Reagan Administration proposed the first major change to federal child labor laws in 40 years, proposing to expand the hours and types of jobs14- and 15-year-olds could work, and making it easier for employers to pay students less than minimum wage.

Labor experts have warned that the weakening of child labor laws also threatens other workplace regulations, as well as the wages of all workers. Many of the same conservative organizations pushing these rules have also taken aim at union rights and environmental safety standards.  

However, we seem to be in a new phase if not a revolution in American work life.  Unions are growing and becoming more assertive.  One effect of the labor shortage is that workers are demanding higher pay and better working conditions.  We cannot be certain where this movement will go, but it just might improve the laws protecting our kids.