[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3564 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3564

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2009

   Ms. Roybal-Allard (for herself, Mr. Hinojosa, and Mr. Connolly of 
  Virginia) 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 strengthen 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Children's Act for Responsible 
Employment of 2009'' or the ``CARE Act of 2009''.

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--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor 
        shall apply to any employee under 18 years of age employed in 
        agriculture unless 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
            (2) by striking paragraph (2).
    (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.

    Paragraph (1) of section 16(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by striking ``not to exceed'' and inserting 
                ``of''; and
                    (B) by amending clauses (i) and (ii) to read as 
                follows:
            ``(i) not less than $500 and not more than $15,000 for each 
        employee who was the subject of such a violation; or
            ``(ii) not less than $15,000 and not more than $50,000 with 
        regard to each such violation that causes the serious injury, 
        serious illness, or death of any employee under the age of 18 
        years, which penalty may be doubled where the violation is a 
        repeated or willful violation.''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B) by striking ``the term `serious 
        injury' means'' and inserting ``the terms `serious injury' and 
        `serious illness' mean''.

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--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``Any person'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (f), any person''; 
        and
            (2) 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 work-related injury, illness, or 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) Report.--The Secretary shall submit an annual report to 
Congress which shall include--
            ``(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.
The Secretary shall publish each such report in the Federal Register 
and shall ensure that such reports are posted on the Department of 
Labor website.''.

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 5 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 work-related serious injury to an employee under 18 
        years of age employed in agriculture;
            ``(2) the discovery of a work-related serious illness of an 
        employee under 18 years of age employed in agriculture; or
            ``(3) the 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 relevant to the incident, to include 
        environmental hazards, such as chemicals or pesticide exposure; 
        use of machinery or tools at time of incident; work tasks 
        performed at time of incident; and other details relating to 
        the incident; 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 not less than $500 and not more than $7,000 
per violation.
    ``(e) Definition.--As used in this section, the terms `serious 
injury' and `serious illness' have the meanings given such terms in 
section 16(e)(1)(B).''.

SEC. 7. PESTICIDE-RELATED WORKER PROTECTION STANDARD.

    Congress finds and declares that the employment of children under 
the age of 18 in any occupation or under any circumstances inconsistent 
with the worker protection standard for workers exposed to pesticides 
in part 170 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, is particularly 
hazardous to such children and detrimental to their health and well-
being. The Secretary of Labor shall, not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, revise part 570 of title 29, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to prohibit the employment of a child under the 
age of 18 in any occupation or under any circumstances not permitted by 
part 170 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.

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 and the 
revision required by section 7. 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 2, 3, 4, and 6 and 
the revision required by section 7 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 2, 3, 4, or 6 or in the revision required by section 7 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 or such revision.
    (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.

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act (other than section 8) and the amendments made by this Act 
shall take effect on the date that is 30 days after the regulations 
required under section 8 are published in the Federal Register.
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