On June 12, the House passed, by voice vote, the Child Labor Protection Act (H.R. 2637). The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 (P.L. 75-718) to address violations of child labor, minimum wage, and overtime laws.
Sponsored by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), H.R. 2637 would cap the maximum civil penalties for such violations. Currently, the FLSA limits the penalties for violations of child labor and minimum wage or overtime laws to $10,000 and $1,000, respectively. H.R. 2637 would increase the penalties to $11,000 and $1,100. In addition, the penalty would be increased to $50,000 if the violation led to the death or serious injury (dismemberment, permanent paralysis, or impairment) of a minor; the current cap is $11,000. For willful or repeated violations, the penalty could be doubled to a maximum of $100,000.
Rep. Woolsey stated: “As a member of the Committee on Education and Labor and as chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, I truly am proud to have brought H.R. 2637 to the floor today. The Child Labor Protection Act of 2007 is a narrowly drafted, bipartisan bill that increases penalties substantially for violations of child labor protection provisions that actually cause death or serious injury. Although this legislation does not make the imposition of penalties mandatory, it leaves the decision of whether or not to assess penalties up to the Secretary of Labor, and it provides the Department with an additional enforcement tool to address the most serious labor violations. There is much more that must be done, Mr. Speaker, to strengthen our child labor laws, but this bill is a small first step. It is a beginning.”
Rep. David Davis (R-TN) said, “There is no one more vulnerable in our workforce than its youngest members. While the employment of young workers is essential to instilling in them the work ethic and the value of a dollar, their collective safety must be the highest priority of our nation’s employers and, indeed, the nation as a whole.” Rep. Davis added, “The measure before us is essential for the continuation of the Department of Labor’s ongoing focus on workplace safety for youth, and I commend President Bush for his work on this issue…Mr. Speaker, we are making undeniable, bipartisan progress on updating our child labor laws. As the Bush administration continues its work, the Child Labor Protection Act would provide it with additional tools to address serious child labor violations, decrease repeat occurrences, and strengthen the overall enforcement of critical child labor laws.”
