Congress Answering Agencies’ Calls to Address Child Labor Laws

Lawmakers in Congress are moving to tighten regulations on child labor in the wake of a recent uptick in violations and uncovered exploitative practices.

House and Senate members have launched legislative efforts to change federal child labor laws, while Congressional committee chairs are pushing for oversight of companies violating such restrictions. The push for tighter control on Capitol Hill comes as the US Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services are also working to enhance enforcement of protections for employed minors.

An agency taskforce asked Congress to get involved in the effort by boosting funding for enforcement and raising civil monetary penalties, which they say aren’t high enough to deter companies from violating the law.

But the proposals on the Hill to rein in child labor violations vary in scope as lawmakers seek bipartisan consensus on a topic that has garnered national attention due to the recently uncovered precarious conditions children, often migrants, are experiencing across the country.

Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a bill March 29 that would significantly raise fines for violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Statutory maximum penalties for violations that lead to serious injury or death would go from the current $50,000 to as much as $601,150 if the bill passes.

While the Justice for Exploited Children Act would fulfill DOL’s requests for Congressional action on low civil fines, it wouldn’t do much else. However, the proposal’s limited reach may be the key to getting legislation on the topic through a divided Congress, Scholten told Bloomberg Law.

While the proposal is endorsed by Mace, a moderate Republican, legislation tackling child labor has been mostly backed by Democrats. A narrower bill may lure more support in the Republican-controlled House, Scholten said.

“This bill in particular is not going to solve the problem in its entirety, but it’s an important first step at addressing this critical issue,” she said. “We’ve framed it in a way to maximize the likelihood of getting it passed.”

Meanwhile, another Michigan Democrat in the House, Dan Kildee, told Bloomberg Law he is working on legislation that would go further than raising fines. His bill would boost funding for the DOL and HHS in their enforcement efforts, as well as expand the employer liability chain for infractions, he said.

“It’s a matter of civil and criminal penalties, increased enforcement, and then, to the extent we can, try to expand the target of enforcement activity to include the principal contracting company,” said Kildee, who led 32 Democrats in a letter urging the DOL for increased enforcement for automotive suppliers and is working to garner Republican support.

Senate Push

In the Senate, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee leaders sent a letter to Packers Sanitation Services Inc. seeking answers for the company’s employment of 102 children under hazardous conditions.

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, the main enforcement arm for such violations, fined PSSI $1.5 million for infractions at facilities across eight states that employed minors to clean dangerous equipment and work overnight shifts.

HELP Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) asked the company to identify all third-party consultants it has hired to help with FLSA compliance, and what policies and procedures PSSI uses to confirm US work eligibility. The company has until April 12 to respond to all of the senators’ questions.

On March 2, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), like Scholten and Mace, introduced legislation to increase fines for companies that violate FLSA child labor provisions. The increased amounts mirror the House proposal, but Schatz’s bill would also establish new criminal penalties for violators.

The criminal consequence for a repeat or willful violation of child labor laws would include a fine of up to $50,000 and a year in jail. The bill, co-sponsored by five other Democrats and no Republicans, would also ensure that all minors, including independent contractors, are covered by existing FLSA protections.