Child Labor Violations Receive Heightened Scrutiny

WASHINGTON — With exploitation on the rise and Republican lawmakers in some states rolling back protections, the Biden administration is stepping up its efforts to combat child labor violations.

Labor Department officials say there has been a dramatic increase in the number of children employed in violations of child labor laws.

Since 2018, violations have increased by some 69%, and the pace of violations appears to be quickening. 

During the 2022 fiscal year, the department said, a total 3,876 children were found to be working in breach of workplace rules, an increase of 37% over the previous year, when the number of minors allegedly being exploited in the workplace was 2,819, and the percentage rise, year over year, was at 26%.

Sadly, at least three of these cases ended with the death of the young people involved in 2021, and last May, a 16-year-old construction worker fell more than 160 feet to his death at a construction site in Nashville, Tennessee.

In a bid to further tamp down on the epidemic, the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services this week signed an agreement to advance ongoing efforts to address this plague of exploitation.

The memorandum between the two departments increases coordination between their respective sets of investigators and makes information sharing more transparent and reliable.

Further, the partners agreed to address the need for deeper information sharing, coordination, training and education. 

The Department of Health and Human Services said the purpose of this MOA is to maximize the enforcement of the child labor protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act, to enhance the ability to protect children from exploitation, and to connect individuals to needed benefits and services. 

The agreement will help identify geographies and employers where children may be likely to be suffering from child labor exploitation; to help identify circumstances where children are unlawfully employed; and to ensure that child labor trafficking victims or potential victims have access to critical services.

The agreement is being carried out in conjunction with the new interagency child labor task force announced by the agencies Feb. 27. 

The focus of the task force is to further collaboration and improve information sharing among agencies, and to advance the health, education and well-being of children in the United States.  

The Labor Department said this week it is currently investigating over 600 child labor cases.   

“Child labor exploitation can disrupt a youth’s health, safety, education and overall well-being, which are unacceptable consequences for any child,” said Administration for Children and Families Assistant Secretary January Contreras in a written statement. 

“This partnership with DOL provides further opportunity to carry out our mission of protecting the well-being of children by arming ourselves and our partners — inside and outside of government — with the information and tools needed to help us all be a part of preventing and responding to child labor exploitation,” Contreras said.

Meanwhile, across the U.S., lawmakers in several states are attempting to remove or loosen restrictions on when and for how long minors may work.

In Iowa, which has become the poster child for such efforts, Republican lawmakers introduced a pair of bills in January, Senate File 542 and House File 647, that would expand the kinds of work 14- and 15-year-olds could do as part of approved job training programs.

The bill would also extend their number of allowable work hours, and exempt employers from liability if their young employees are injured or killed on the job.

While a recently added amendment to the bill would prohibit children from working in meat-packing plants, the law would still allow them to, among other things, serve alcohol at bars.

The House bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Iowa, maintains the bill has been misrepresented by its opponents, and has noted that among its revisions since he introduced it in January are clearer provisions on how young workers can qualify for worker compensation if they are injured on the job.

This past weekend, concerned parents and union members descended on the Iowa statehouse to protest the bills.

“Our kids are not for sale,” said Al Womble, political director for Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, as he addressed the crowd.

“These children are going to be working in things like meat-packing plants and mining and having 16-year-olds work at bars and restaurants serving alcohol,” Womble said in an interview with Des Moines’ CBS-TV affiliate KCCI. 

“We are hoping to raise awareness about that and hope that other people say, ‘You know what, this is inappropriate and it is not what’s best for Iowa children,'” he concluded.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue