The Department of Labor’s crackdown on wage and hour law violators continues to move forward — and now it has a new focal point.
Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis said in a recent interview that she is going to make enforcement of farm-labor rules a priority.
A federal law passed more than 70 years ago exempts farms from one major child-labor rule that applies to other industries. It permits children 12 and up to work on farms without limits outside of regular school hours.
But due to the growing number of farms found to be using underage children to work the fields, the feds have decided to pay more attention to agricultural sectors and severely punish labor law violators.
Changes in fines, legislation
For starters, the DOL just announced it’ll be looking for violators, and those caught employing underage children will face fines that have been increased to nearly $11,000 per child (up from around $1,000).
And the DOL is backing up its strong talk with actions.
Example: A farm in Arizona was just hit with more than $30,000 in fines for employing 10- and 11-year-old children.
Another move that threatens the current agricultural labor landscape: A proposal, called the Care Act, that would ban farms from hiring 12- and 13-year-olds and cap working hours for 14- and 15-year olds is gaining support in Congress.
However, it faces major opposition from The American Farm Bureau, the nation’s largest farm lobbying organization, which says such restrictions could be the death of the tradition of having children work in farm communities.
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