Washington — Federal standards on child labor are “limited and increasingly outdated,” according to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, which is calling on states to strengthen laws that protect young workers.
Those conclusions are part of the nonprofit think tank’s recently published report on how states can expand protections to keep young people safe on the job.
In the report, published in July, the institute asserts that federal standards on child labor for the agriculture industry, for example, are “much weaker” than those for other sectors, hazardous occupation orders haven’t been updated in decades and no work hours protections for minors over age 15 currently exist.
Although the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 “sets a floor,” EPI points out that states have legal authority to establish their own child labor standards at a time when more than 800 annual child labor violations have occurred in five of the past seven years, according to the Department of Labor.
The institute recommends three steps to enhance child labor protections:
1. Update state statutes.
State policymakers should review their child labor statues alongside federal laws to identify areas of weakness. Some weaker standards often appear in state codes that cover work hours or prohibited hazardous occupations.
For example, Iowa allows employers to hire 14-year-olds in industrial laundries and 15-year-olds in light assembly work. Federal law doesn’t permit 14- and 15-year-olds to work in these settings.
2. Close coverage gaps.
Although the FLSA only suggests that employers maintain certificates confirming the ages of minors they employ, states can implement the process into existing work permit systems.
Fewer than half of states have hours guidelines in place for 16- and 17-year-old workers. EPI says states “should set maximum daily and weekly work hours” to protect these workers.
The report adds that states can strengthen protections by:
- Updating prohibitions on child labor in hazardous occupations.
- Extending equal protections to young workers in the agricultural industry.
- Increasing civil penalties to deter child labor violations and updating them based on inflation.
- Enhancing enforcement capacity and authority by sufficiently funding their agencies.
- Eliminating subminimum wage for young workers. The FLSA allows workers younger than 20 to be paid as little as $4.25 an hour for their first 90 days of employment.
3. Modernize child labor standards.
Along with evidence-based guardrails, EPI says child labor protections should include innovative policies to empower young workers, deter violations, and provide meaningful support and remedies for victims of violations.
Policies can include requiring workers’ rights education, mandating employer training on child labor laws and ensuring a commitment to follow the law, along with protecting whistleblowers and victims to encourage reporting.
For employers who break the law, EPI says states can institute innovative enforcement policies such as stop-work orders and “hot goods” provisions. “‘Hot goods’ provisions allow courts to stop the flow of goods produced using illegal child labor and are currently in place federally,” the report states.
