Labor Regulation Revisions Propose to Ban Youth from Certain Types of Agricultural Work

Public comment period open until November 1, 2011

Last week, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis proposed revisions to the U.S. Labor Department’s child labor regulation that would ban youth under certain ages from engaging in specific types of work at off-farm agricultural businesses and on farms not owned or operated by their parents.

Among other things as part of the revised rule, the U.S. Labor Department is proposing to:

• Establish a new hazardous occupation order that would prevent youth younger than 18 from being employed in the storing, marketing and transportation of farm product raw materials (to include grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feedlots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions)
• Prohibit youth younger than 18 from agricultural work involving animals, and in storage bins, pesticide-handling, timber operations and manure pits
• Ban farm workers younger than 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment
• Prohibit all youth—whether employed by agricultural or non-agricultural operations—from using electronic (including communication) devices when operating power-driven equipment
• Revise the civil monetary penalty regulations to incorporate the processes the Wage and Hour Division uses to determine whether to impose a child labor fine and the amount of the penalty.

The agency stressed that the proposed rule would not alter the statute’s so-called “parental exemption,” which involves children working on farms owned or operated by their parents. Public comments are being sought on the proposed rule by November 1, 2011. The Labor Department’s 50-page proposal, available by clicking here, was issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act.