Child labor law summary

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that includes provisions governing child labor. It is designed to protect the educational opportunities of young people and to prohibit their employment in certain jobs and under conditions detrimental to their safety and health.

Coverage. For nonagricultural employers, the FLSA's child labor provisions apply to enterprises that have employees who are engaged in interstate commerce, producing goods for interstate commerce, or handling, selling or working on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce. For most companies, the FLSA will apply if they have an annual dollar volume of business of at least $500,000. The following are covered by the FLSA regardless of their dollar volume of business: hospitals; institutions primarily engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill or disabled who reside on the premises; schools for children who are mentally or physically disabled or gifted; preschools, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education; and federal, state, and local government agencies.

Employees of firms that do not meet the $500,000 annual dollar volume test may be individually covered in any work week in which they are individually engaged in interstate commerce, the production of goods for interstate commerce, or an activity that is closely related and directly essential to the production of such goods. The tests for whether the FLSA applies are very broad, so almost all employers are covered.

Prohibited employment. The FLSA prohibits workers below the age of 18 from performing certain types of hazardous nonfarm jobs. Employers are breaking the law when they let young workers drive tractors or operate forklifts. Generally, employees under 18 may not work at jobs that involve:

• manufacturing or storing explosives;

• driving a motor vehicle or being an outside helper on a motor vehicle;

• coal mining;

• logging and sawmilling;

• power-driven wood-working machines;

• exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations;

• power-driven hoisting equipment (forklifts and similar equipment);

• power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machines;

• mining, other than coal mining;

• meat packing or processing (including power-driven meat slicing machines);

• power-driven bakery machines;

• power-driven paper-products machines;

• manufacturing brick, tile, and related products;

• power-driven circular saws, band saws, and guillotine shears;

• wrecking, demolition, and ship-breaking operations

• roofing operations; and excavation operations.

Limited exemptions are provided for apprentices and student-learners under specified standards for the following jobs: power-driven wood-working machines; power-driven metal forming, punching, and shearing machines; power-driven paper-products machines; power-driven circular saws, band saws, and guillotine shears; roofing operations; and excavation operations.

The minimum age for most nonfarm work is 16, although 14- and 15-year-olds may be employed outside of school hours in certain occupations. Youths may, at any age, deliver newspapers; perform in radio, television, movies, or theatrical productions; work for their parents in their solely owned nonfarm business (except in mining, manufacturing, or other occupations declared hazardous by the Department of Labor); or gather evergreens and make evergreen wreaths.

Hours limitations. Workers 18 or older may perform any job, whether hazardous or not, for unlimited hours, in accordance with minimum wage and overtime requirements. Youths 16 and 17 years old may perform any nonhazardous job, for unlimited hours. Youths 14 and 15 years old may work outside school hours in various nonmanufacturing, nonmining, nonhazardous jobs up to: three hours on a school day; 18 hours in a school week; eight hours on a nonschool day; and 40 hours in a nonschool week. Also, 14- and 15-year-olds must work between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended to 9 p.m.

Penalties. The FLSA is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division within the US Department of Labor. Employers are subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 for each employee who is subject to a violation of the child labor provisions. For child labor violations that cause death or serious injury to an employee under age 18, employers are subject to penalties of up to $50,000 per violation. This penalty may be doubled where the violation is repeated or willful.

If the Department of Labor assesses a civil penalty, employers may contest the penalty by filing an exception within 15 days of receiving the notice of penalty. An administrative law judge will conduct a hearing and determine the appropriateness of the penalty. Either party can appeal the decision of the administrative law judge to the Secretary of Labor.

The Act also provides for criminal penalties. Employers convicted of willful violations may be fined up to $10,000. For a second offense committed after a conviction for a similar offense, employers are subject to a fine up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to six months.