[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2674 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2674

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase penalties for 
        violations of child labor laws, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2007

    Ms. Roybal-Allard (for herself, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
 Cummings, Mr. Wexler, and Ms. DeLauro) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase penalties for 
        violations of child labor laws, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Act for 
Responsible Employment of 2007'' or the ``CARE Act of 2007''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short Title; Table of Contents.
Sec. 2. Revised Age Requirement for Child Agricultural Employment; 
                            Repeal of Waiver Provision for Hand Harvest 
                            Laborers.
Sec. 3. Increased Civil Penalties for Child Labor Violations.
Sec. 4. Special Criminal Penalties for Certain Aggravated Child Labor 
                            Violations.
Sec. 5. Report to Congress on Work-Related Injuries to Children and 
                            Related Matters.
Sec. 6. Employer Reporting Requirements.
Sec. 7. Pesticide-Related Worker Protection Standard.
Sec. 8. Application of Fair Labor Standards Amendments.

SEC. 2. REVISED AGE REQUIREMENT FOR CHILD AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT; 
              REPEAL OF WAIVER PROVISION FOR HAND HARVEST LABORERS.

    (a) Revised Age Requirement.--Section 13(c) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(c)) is amended by striking 
paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the following:
    ``(c)(1) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor shall 
not apply to any employee under 16 years of age employed in 
agriculture, including in an agricultural occupation that the Secretary 
of Labor finds and declares to be particularly hazardous under section 
3(l), if--
            ``(A) the employee is employed by a parent of the employee 
        or by a person standing in the place of the parent, on a farm 
        owned or operated by the parent or person; and
            ``(B) the employment is outside of school hours for the 
        school district where the employee is living while so 
        employed.''.
    (b) Repeal of Waiver Provision.--Section 13(c) of such Act (29 
U.S.C. 213(c)) is further amended by striking paragraph (4).

SEC. 3. INCREASED CIVIL PENALTIES FOR CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS.

    Section 16(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
216(e)) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by striking ``not to exceed 
        $10,000'' and inserting ``not less than $500 and not more than 
        $50,000''; and
            (2) by inserting after the first sentence the following new 
        sentences: ``In the case of a violation under the preceding 
        sentence that results in a serious lost-time work-related 
        injury or a serious lost-time work-related illness (as such 
        terms are defined in section 12A(c)) to an employee or results 
        in the death of an employee, the civil penalty shall be not 
        more than $50,000. In the case of a repeated or willful 
        violation that results in a serious lost-time work-related 
        injury or a serious lost-time work-related illness to an 
        employee or results in the death of an employee, the civil 
        penalty shall be not more than $100,000.''.

SEC. 4. SPECIAL CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN AGGRAVATED CHILD LABOR 
              VIOLATIONS.

    Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates any of the 
provisions of section 12, and such violations result in or contribute 
to the death or permanent disability of an employee under 18 years of 
age at the time of such violation, shall be subject to imprisonment for 
not more than five years or a fine under title 18, United States Code, 
or both.''.

SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON WORK-RELATED INJURIES TO CHILDREN AND 
              RELATED MATTERS.

    The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended by inserting after 
section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212) the following new section:

``SEC. 12A. DATA ON WORK-RELATED INJURIES TO CHILDREN AND RELATED 
              MATTERS.

    ``(a) Data Analysis.--Using the sources specified in subsection 
(b), the Secretary shall analyze data concerning children under the age 
of 18 who are employed in agriculture, and with respect to such 
children, each serious lost-time work-related injury, serious lost-time 
work-related illness, or work-related death.
    ``(b) Sources Specified.--The sources referred to in subsection (a) 
are the following:
            ``(1) Sources within the Department of Labor, including the 
        Wage and Hour Division, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the 
        Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
            ``(2) State employment security agencies and other relevant 
        State agencies.
            ``(3) The National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
        Health.
    ``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) The term `serious lost-time work-related injury' 
        means, with respect to an employee under 18 years of age, a 
        work-related injury which results in lost employment time for 
        such employee of at least one work day.
            ``(2) The term `serious lost-time work-related illness' 
        means, with respect to an employee under 18 years of age, a 
        work-related illness which results in lost employment time for 
        such employee of at least one work day.
    ``(d) Report.--The Secretary shall submit an annual report to 
Congress which shall include the following--
            ``(1) a summary of the data collected by the Secretary 
        under this section and section 12B;
            ``(2) an evaluation, based on such data, that reflects the 
        status of child labor and related safety and health hazards; 
        and
            ``(3) any information, based on such data, that leads the 
        Secretary to believe that children under 18 years of age may 
        have been employed in violation of section 12.''.

SEC. 6. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 12A, as added by section 5, the 
following new section:

``SEC. 12B EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Report.--Not later than five days after an event specified 
under subsection (b), the employer involved in the event shall submit a 
report to the Secretary in accordance with subsection (c).
    ``(b) Events Specified.--An event referred to in subsection (a) 
is--
            ``(1) a serious lost-time work-related injury to an 
        employee under 18 years of age employed in agriculture;
            ``(2) the discovery of a serious lost-time work-related 
        illness of an employee under 18 years of age employed in 
        agriculture; or
            ``(3) a work-related death of an employee under 18 years of 
        age employed in agriculture.
    ``(c) Contents of Report.--The report required by subsection (a) 
shall include--
            ``(1) the name and address of the employer;
            ``(2) the name, address, and age of the employee;
            ``(3) details about the injury, illness, or death of the 
        employee; and
            ``(4) such other information as the Secretary of Labor may 
        by regulation prescribe.
    ``(d) Penalty for Failure to Report.--The Secretary may assess a 
civil penalty on any employer who fails to file a report as required by 
this section in an amount up to $7,000 per violation.
    ``(e) Definition.--As used in this section, the terms `serious 
lost-time work-related injury' and `serious lost-time work-related 
illness' have the meanings given those terms in section 12A.''.

SEC. 7. PESTICIDE-RELATED WORKER PROTECTION STANDARD.

    (a) Incorporation of Worker Protection Standard in Child Labor 
Provisions.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall issue final rules to incorporate 
within the rules relating to the child labor provisions of section 12 
of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212) the worker 
protection standard for workers exposed to pesticides in part 170 of 
title 40, Code of Federal Regulations. If, after incorporating such 
standard, the standard in such part is revised, the Secretary shall, by 
rule, incorporate such revisions within the rules relating to the child 
labor provisions of section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 212).
    (b) Reconciliation of Civil Penalties.--Section 16 of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216), as amended by sections 3 
and 4, is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsections:
    ``(g) The amount of a civil penalty imposed by the Secretary on a 
violator for a violation of section 12 of this Act may be offset by the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency against the amount 
of a civil penalty imposed by the Administrator for a violation of the 
worker protection standard promulgated under the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. prec. 121 et seq.) by the same 
violator if the Administrator determines that the violation of such 
standard involved the same conduct affecting the same child workers in 
whose interests the first civil penalty was imposed.
    ``(h) The amount of a civil penalty imposed by the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency on a violator for a violation of 
the worker protection standard promulgated under the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. prec. 121 et 
seq.) may be offset by the Secretary against the amount of a civil 
penalty imposed by the Secretary for a violation of section 12 of this 
Act by the same violator if the Secretary determines that the violation 
of such section involved the same conduct affecting the same child 
workers in whose interests the first civil penalty was imposed.''.

SEC. 8. APPLICATION OF FAIR LABOR STANDARDS AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Rulemaking.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall issue final rules 
to implement the amendments made by sections 2 through 6. The rules 
issued under this subsection shall take effect not later than 30 days 
after the date on which the final rules are published in the Federal 
Register.
    (b) Violations.--The amendments made by sections 3 and 4 shall 
apply to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
201 et seq.) that occur after the date on which the rules issued under 
subsection (a) take effect.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in the amendments made by 
section 3 or 4 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.
    (d) Employer Reporting Requirements.--The employer reporting 
requirements of section 12B of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as 
added by section 6, shall take effect on the date on which the final 
rules issued under subsection (a) take effect.
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