[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3051 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3051

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2023

 Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Young) 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 apply child labor laws 
  to independent contractors, increase penalties for child labor law 
                  violations, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Child Labor Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.

    (a) Private Enforcement.--Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting after the third sentence the following: 
        ``Any employer who violates the provisions of section 12 or 
        13(c), relating to child labor, shall be liable to any child 
        harmed as a result of such violation for compensatory damages 
        and punitive damages in an amount not more than $250,000.'';
            (2) in the fourth sentence--
                    (A) by inserting ``or, with respect to violations 
                of the provisions of section 12 or 13(c), relating to 
                child labor, children'' after ``more employees''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``or children, as the case may 
                be,'' after ``other employees'';
            (3) in the fifth sentence, by inserting ``or children, as 
        the case may be,'' after ``employees''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following: ``The right 
        provided by this subsection to bring an action by or on behalf 
        of any child with respect to violations of the provisions of 
        section 12 or 13(c), relating to child labor, and the right of 
        any child to become a party plaintiff to any such action, shall 
        terminate upon the filing of a complaint by the Secretary in an 
        action under section 17 in which legal or equitable relief is 
        sought as a result of alleged violations of such provisions.''.
    (b) Civil Penalties.--Section 16(e)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
                ``not to exceed'' and inserting ``of an amount (subject 
                to subparagraph (C)) that is'';
                    (B) in clause (i), by striking ``$11,000'' and 
                inserting ``not less than $5,000 and not more than 
                $132,270''; and
                    (C) in clause (ii), by striking ``$50,000'' and 
                inserting ``not less than $25,000 and not more than 
                $601,150''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(C) The dollar amounts referred to in clauses (i) and 
        (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall be increased annually, for 
        fiscal year 2024 and every fiscal year thereafter, by the 
        percent increase, if any, in the consumer price index for all 
        urban consumers (all items; United States city average) for the 
        most recent 12-month period for which applicable data is 
        available.''.
    (c) Criminal Penalties.--Section 16(a) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Any'' and inserting ``(1) Any'';
            (2) by inserting ``(other than subsection (a)(4) of such 
        section)'' after ``section 15'';
            (3) by striking ``subsection'' each place it appears and 
        inserting ``paragraph''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates section 
15(a)(4) shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more 
than $50,000, or to imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or both.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a), (b), 
and (c) shall apply with respect to violations alleged to have occurred 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PREVENTION OF CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Labor may award grants to 
eligible entities for purposes of education, training, and development 
of systems to help employers recognize, avoid, and prevent violations 
of section 12 or 13(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 212, 213(c)).
    (b) Eligible Entity.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``eligible entity'' means--
            (1) a nonprofit organization described in section 501(c)(3) 
        of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
            (2) a nonprofit trade industry or employer association;
            (3) a labor-management partnership; or
            (4) a labor organization.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON CHILD LABOR .

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the National Advisory 
Committee on Child Labor (in this section referred to as the 
``Committee'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The Committee shall be composed of 12 
        members of whom--
                    (A) 3 shall be representatives of management who 
                are appointed by the Secretary of Labor;
                    (B) 3 shall be representatives of labor 
                organizations who are appointed by the Secretary of 
                Labor;
                    (C) 1 shall be a member of the public who is 
                appointed by the Secretary of Labor;
                    (D) 2 shall be members of the public who are 
                appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services; and
                    (E) 3 shall be child welfare professionals who are 
                appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services.
            (2) Date.--The appointments of the members of the Committee 
        shall be made not later than 90 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (3) Period of appointment; vacancies.--
                    (A) In general.--A member of the Committee shall be 
                appointed for a term of 2 years.
                    (B) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Committee--
                            (i) shall not affect the powers of the 
                        Committee; and
                            (ii) shall be filled in the same manner as 
                        the original appointment.
            (4) Meetings.--The Committee shall hold no fewer than 2 
        meetings during each calendar year.
            (5) Chairperson.--The Secretary of Labor shall designate 
        the Chairperson of the Committee from among the members of the 
        Committee appointed under paragraph (1).
    (c) Duties of Committee.--The Committee shall advise, consult, and 
make recommendations to the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services on matters related to the recognition, 
avoidance, prevention, and enforcement of violations of section 12 or 
13(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212, 213(c)).
    (d) Committee Personnel Matters.--
            (1) Compensation of members.--A member of the Committee who 
        is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government shall 
        be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the 
        annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the 
        Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 
        Code, for each day (including travel time) during which the 
        member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the 
        Committee.
            (2) Travel expenses.--A member of the Committee shall be 
        allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
        subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 
        under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
        Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business 
        in the performance of services for the Committee.
            (3) Staff.--
                    (A) In general.--The Chairperson of the Committee 
                may, without regard to the civil service laws 
                (including regulations), appoint and terminate an 
                executive director and such other additional personnel 
                as may be necessary to enable the Committee to perform 
                its duties, except that the employment of an executive 
                director shall be subject to confirmation by the 
                Committee.
                    (B) Compensation.--The Chairperson of the Committee 
                may fix the compensation of the executive director and 
                other personnel without regard to chapter 51 and 
                subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States 
                Code, relating to classification of positions and 
                General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay 
                for the executive director and other personnel may not 
                exceed the rate payable for level V of the Executive 
                Schedule under section 5316 of that title.
            (4) Detail of government employees.--A Federal Government 
        employee may be detailed to the Committee without 
        reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or 
        loss of civil service status or privilege.
            (5) Procurement of temporary and intermittent services.--
        The Chairperson of the Committee may procure temporary and 
        intermittent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 
        States Code, at rates for individuals that do not exceed the 
        daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 
        level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of that 
        title.
    (e) Duration of Committee.--Section 1013 of title 5, United States 
Code, shall not apply to the Committee.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Committee to carry out this section $3,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2024.
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