Labor Department Ditches Proposal to Change Child Labor Hours

The US Labor Department has scrapped an effort to update child labor restrictions.

A proposed rule to change DOL’s restrictions for the hours minors can work and what industries they can work in was withdrawn from the White House budget office Thursday, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

The details of the rulemaking were never publicly released.

Under the DOL’s current rules, 14- and 15-year-olds are limited in how many hours they can work, with more restrictions during the school year.

All minors are banned from working in a number of “hazardous occupations” like mining ...