[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 869 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 869

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reform the provisions 
                        relating to child labor.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 10, 2001

 Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Rockefeller, and 
  Mrs. Boxer) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reform the provisions 
                        relating to child labor.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Act for 
Responsible Employment of 2001'' or ``CARE Act''.
    (b) Reference.--Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is 
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other 
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 
other provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 
et seq.).

SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT.

    Section 13(c) (29 U.S.C. 213(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
    ``(1) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor shall 
not apply to any employee employed in agriculture outside of school 
hours in the school district where such employee is living while he or 
she is so employed, if such employee is employed by his or her parent, 
grandparent, aunt, uncle, first cousin, or legal guardian, on a farm 
that is owned or operated by such parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, 
first cousin, or legal guardian.''; and
            (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (4).

SEC. 3. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS.

    (a) Civil Money Penalties.--Section 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is 
amended in the first sentence--
            (1) by striking ``$10,000'' and inserting ``$15,000'';
            (2) by inserting after ``subject to a civil penalty of'' 
        the following: ``not less than $500 and''.
    (b) Penalties for Violations Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, 
Serious Illness, or Death.--Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Any employer who violates section 12 shall be liable for such 
legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate where such violation 
results in serious bodily injury to, serious illness, or the death of a 
minor. An action to recover such relief may be brought against any 
employer in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction, without 
regard to the amount in controversy, by any employee subject to the 
protections of section 12 or by the employee's legal guardian or the 
employee's survivors. The court in such action shall, in addition to 
any other judgment awarded to the plaintiff, allow a reasonable 
attorney's fee to be paid by the defendant and the costs of the action. 
If the employee, the employee's legal guardian, or the employee's 
survivors collect a judgment under this subsection and also seek 
recovery for the same violation through State worker's compensation 
laws, the provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to 
prohibit a State from electing to offset recovery obtained under this 
subsection against recovery provided through such State worker's 
compensation laws. A court, in a case described in the preceding 
sentence, may consider the amount recovered under any State worker's 
compensation laws in awarding relief under this subsection.''.
    (c) Criminal Penalties.--Section 16(a) (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``Any person who violates 
the provisions of section 15(a)(4), concerning oppressive child labor, 
shall on conviction be subject to a fine of not more than $15,000 
(notwithstanding any provision of section 3571 of title 18, United 
States Code, to the contrary), or to imprisonment for not more than 5 
years, or both, in the case of a willful or repeat violation that 
results in or contributes to a fatality of a minor employee or a 
permanent disability of a minor employee, or a violation which is 
concurrent with a criminal violation of any other provision of this Act 
or of any other Federal or State law.''.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in the amendments made by this 
section shall be construed to preempt any State law that provides 
protections or remedies for employees that are greater than the 
protections or remedies provided under such amendments.

SEC. 4. REPORTING AND RECORD-KEEPING.

    Section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e)(1) The Secretary and the Director of the Bureau of the Census 
of the United States shall biannually compile data from respective 
State employment security agencies and from other sources in all the 
States concerning--
            ``(A) the types of industries and occupations in which 
        children under the age of 18 are employed; and
            ``(B) cases in which it was determined that children were 
        employed in violation of this section.
    ``(2) Each employer who employs an individual in a State under the 
age of 18 shall report to the State employment security agency in the 
State on any injury to such individual that results in lost employment 
time or any illness such individual incurred while at work. Such report 
shall include the age of the individual, the nature of the job in which 
the individual is employed (including large-scale, commercial 
agriculture), the circumstances surrounding the injury or illness to 
such individual, and the report of the physician and health care 
facility which dealt with such injury or illness.
    ``(3) Beginning on January 1, 2003, the Secretary, in conjunction 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall issue a biannual 
report on the status of child labor in the United States and its 
attendant safety and health hazards.''.

SEC. 5. COORDINATION.

    Section 4 (29 U.S.C. 204) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(g) The Secretary shall encourage and establish closer working 
relationships with non-governmental organizations and with State and 
local government agencies having responsibility for administering and 
enforcing labor and safety and health laws. Upon the request of the 
Secretary, and to the extent permissible under applicable law, State 
and local government agencies with information regarding injuries and 
deaths of employees shall submit such information to the Secretary for 
use as appropriate in the enforcement of section 12 and in the 
promulgation and interpretation of the regulations and orders 
authorized by section 3(l). The Secretary may reimburse such State and 
local government agencies for such services.''.

SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than ____ days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate regulations to carry out this 
Act and the amendments made by this Act. Such regulations shall take 
effect not later than ____ days after the date of such promulgation.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Labor 
such sums as may be necessary for to carry out this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date on 
which the regulations promulgated under section 6 take effect.
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