Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Children’s Act for Responsible Employment of 2009

or the

CARE Act of 2009

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).

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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).

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.

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.

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.