[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 4, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61289-61291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25472]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Wage and Hour Division

29 CFR Parts 570 and 579

RIN 1235-AA06


Public Hearing on Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements 
of Interpretation; Child Labor Violations--Civil Money Penalties

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will hold a public hearing on 
its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Child Labor Regulations, 
Orders and Statements of Interpretation; Child Labor Violations--Civil 
Money Penalties to give interested persons an opportunity to present 
comments on the proposed rule. In the NPRM, the Department proposes to 
revise the child labor regulations issued pursuant to the Fair Labor 
Standards Act (FLSA) which set forth the criteria for the permissible 
employment of minors under 16 years of age in agricultural and under 18 
years in nonagricultural occupations. The NPRM proposes to implement 
specific recommendations made by the National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health, increase parity between the 
agricultural and nonagricultural child labor provisions, and also 
address other areas that can be improved, which were identified by the 
Department's own enforcement actions. The NPRM was published in the 
Federal Register on September 2, 2011, and the comment period runs 
through November 1, 2011.

DATES: The public hearing will be held on October 14, 2011 from 10 
a.m.- 12 noon, EST in Tampa, Florida. All requests to speak at the 
hearing must be received by 5 p.m. EST, October 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Persons interested in presenting testimony at this public 
hearing must submit notice of their intent to participate in the 
hearing and their name, title, organization, and e-mail address using 
one of the following methods:
    Electronic. You may submit requests to speak at the public hearing 
and requests for special accommodations to attend the hearing at: 
[email protected].
    Regular Mail, express delivery, hand (courier) delivery, and 
messenger service. You may submit requests to speak at the public 
hearing and requests for special accommodations to attend the hearing 
to: Wage and Hour Division, attention: Division of Regulations, 
Legislation, and Interpretation, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 
200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210.
    Instructions: Please submit one copy of your request by only one 
method. All requests received must include the agency name (Wage and 
Hour Division) and Regulatory Information Number identified above for 
the subject rulemaking (1235-AA06). All comments and requests to speak 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal information provided. Consequently, prior to including any 
individual's personal information such as Social Security Number, home 
address, telephone number, e-mail addresses and medical data in the 
submission, the Department urges commenters carefully to consider that 
their submissions are a matter of public record and will be publicly 
accessible on the Internet. It is the submitter's responsibility to 
safeguard his or her information. Because we continue to experience 
delays in receiving mail in the Washington, DC area, interested parties 
are strongly encouraged to transmit their requests to speak at the 
public hearing electronically via [email protected] or to submit them by 
mail early. For additional information on submitting comments on the 
proposed rule and the rulemaking process, see the ``Public 
Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
this document.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read the proposed rule, 
background documents or comments received, go to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information regarding this notice is 
available from the following sources:
    Press inquiries. Contact Michael Kravitz, Director of 
Communications, Room S-3502, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: 202-693-0051.
    General and technical information. Contact Arthur M. Kerschner, 
Jr., Chief, Branch of Child Labor, Room S-3510, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone: 
202-693-0072.
    Copies of this Federal Register notice. This Federal Register 
notice, as well as news releases and other relevant information, are 
available on the WHD web site at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.
    Questions of interpretation and/or enforcement of regulations 
issued by this agency or referenced in this notice may be directed to 
the nearest WHD District Office. Locate the nearest office by calling 
the WHD toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE ((866) 487-9243) between 
8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in your local time zone, or log onto the WHD Web site 
for a nationwide listing of WHD District and Area Offices at: http://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPRM was published in the Federal 
Register on September 2, 2011, and the comment period runs through 
November 1, 2011. (76 FR 54836). Comments on the rule can be 
electronically submitted through that time at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Public Participation: The WHD is proposing to revise the child 
labor regulations issued pursuant to the FLSA, which set forth the 
criteria for the permissible employment of minors under 18 years of age 
in agricultural and nonagricultural occupations. (29 CFR parts 570 and 
579). The proposed rule,

[[Page 61290]]

background documents, and comments received on the proposal are 
available at www.regulations.gov. To comment electronically on federal 
rulemakings, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, which will allow you to find, review, and submit 
comments on federal documents that are open for comment and published 
in the Federal Register. The comment period for this rulemaking runs 
through November 1, 2011.
    The public hearing will be held on October 14, 2011, beginning at 
10 a.m. at the Tampa Port Authority, 1101 Channelside Drive, 
400, Tampa, FL 33602. Persons interested in speaking at this 
public hearing must submit by 5 p.m., EST, October 11, 2011, the 
following information: (1) A written request to be heard; and (2) An 
outline of the topics to be discussed, indicating the time allocated to 
each topic. To facilitate the receipt and processing of requests, WHD 
encourages interested persons to submit their requests and outlines 
electronically to [email protected]. It should be noted that, while 
reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate requests to speak on the 
specified issues, it may be necessary to limit the number of those 
speaking and/or the amount of time allocated to each speaker in order 
to adhere to the hearing format. Any persons not afforded an 
opportunity to testify will have an opportunity to submit a written 
statement on the specified issues for the record. The hearing will be 
open to the general public.
    Persons submitting requests and outlines on paper should send or 
deliver their requests and outlines to the Wage and Hour Division, 
attention: Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210. All requests and outlines submitted to the 
Department will be available to the public online at http://www.regulations.gov.
    The Department will prepare an agenda indicating the order of the 
presentation of oral comments and testimony. In the absence of special 
circumstances, presenters will be allotted an equal amount of time for 
presenting oral comments and testimony. Information about the agenda 
will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov on or after October 12, 
2011.

Background

    The Department is committed to helping youth enjoy positive and 
challenging work experiences--both in agricultural and nonagricultural 
employment--that are so important to their development and transition 
to adulthood. The federal child labor provisions were enacted to ensure 
that when young people work, the work is safe, age appropriate, and 
does not jeopardize their schooling. The NPRM, published September 2, 
2011 in the Federal Register, continues the Department's tradition of 
encouraging compliance with the child labor provisions and fostering 
permissible and appropriate job opportunities for working youth that 
are healthy, safe, and not detrimental to their education. (76 FR 
54836). As mentioned, the Department's proposals arise from the 
enforcement experiences of the Wage and Hour Division, specific 
recommendations made by the National Institute for Occupational Safety 
and Health, and a commitment to provide young hired farm workers with 
the same level of workplace protections afforded their peers who are 
employed in nonagricultural industries.

A. Child Labor Provisions for Employment in Nonagriculture

    The child labor provisions of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., 
establish a minimum age of 16 years for employment in nonagricultural 
occupations, but the Secretary of Labor is authorized to provide by 
regulation for 14- and 15-year-olds to work in suitable occupations 
other than manufacturing or mining, and during periods and under 
conditions that will not interfere with their schooling or health and 
well-being. The FLSA provisions permit 16- and 17-year-olds to work in 
the nonagricultural sector without hours or time limitations, except in 
certain occupations found and declared by the Secretary to be 
particularly hazardous, or detrimental to the health or well-being of 
such workers.
    The regulations concerning nonagricultural hazardous occupations 
are contained in subpart E of 29 CFR part 570 (29 CFR 570.50-.68). 
These Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOs) apply on either an industry 
basis, specifying the occupations in a particular industry that are 
prohibited, or an occupational basis, irrespective of the industry in 
which the work is performed. The seventeen nonagricultural HOs were 
adopted individually during the period of 1939 through 1963. Seven of 
these HOs, specifically HOs 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17, contain 
limited exemptions that permit the employment of 16- and 17-year-old 
apprentices and student-learners under particular conditions to perform 
work otherwise prohibited to that age group. The terms and conditions 
for employing such apprentices and student-learners are detailed in 
Sec.  570.50(b) and (c). In the recently published NPRM, the Department 
proposes to create two new nonagricultural HOs, one concerning the 
employment of youth in certain facilities within farm-product raw 
materials wholesale trade industries, as recommended by National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in its 2002 
Report, and another addressing the use of electronic devices, including 
communication devices, while operating or assisting to operate certain 
power-driven equipment, including motor vehicles.

B. Child Labor Provisions for Employment in Agriculture

    The FLSA, since its enactment in 1938, has applied child labor 
standards to the employment of youth in agriculture that differ from 
those applied to youth employed in nonagricultural occupations. FLSA 
section 3(f) defines agriculture as including ``farming in all its 
branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of 
the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and 
harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities (including 
commodities defined as agricultural commodities in section 1141j(g) of 
[U.S.C.] Title 12), the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing 
animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or 
lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident 
to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including 
preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers 
for transportation to market.'' The Department's regulations at 29 CFR 
part 780 explain the meaning of these terms, including a description of 
what constitutes primary agriculture and secondary agriculture under 
section 3(f). However, the FLSA, when enacted, also included a broad 
exemption from the child labor provisions for youth under 16 years of 
age employed in agriculture.
    In 1966, Congress amended the FLSA and, among other things, 
authorized the Secretary to create Agricultural Hazardous Occupations 
Orders (Ag H.O.s) (Pub. L. 89-601, Sec.  203). The newly enacted FLSA 
section 13(c)(2) stated that ``[t]he provisions of section 12 relating 
to child labor shall apply to an employee below the age of sixteen 
employed in agriculture in any occupations that the Secretary of Labor 
finds and declares to be particularly

[[Page 61291]]

hazardous for the employment of children below the age of sixteen, 
except where such employee is employed by his parent or by a person 
standing in place of his parent on a farm owned or operated by such 
parent or person.'' It is important to note that the amendment created 
a minimum age of 16 for the permissible performance of hazardous work 
in agricultural occupations, although 18 remained the minimum age for 
the performance of hazardous work in nonagricultural employment. This 
statutory difference remains to this day. The Department published a 
final rule implementing FLSA Sec.  213(c) in the Federal Register on 
January 7, 1970 (35 FR 221), which became effective on February 6, 
1970. The Ag H.O.s established by that final rule have never been 
revised and are identical to the current Ag H.O.s now contained in 29 
CFR 570.71.
    The Department proposes to not only accept all of the agricultural 
hazardous occupations order recommendations made by the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health but to expand several of 
them. The NPRM proposes to eliminate two exemptions that currently 
allow 14- and 15-year-old hired farm workers to operate tractors and 
certain other farm equipment after receiving limited training and the 
successful completion of a practical examination. The proposal would 
also strengthen a student-learner exemption for 14- and 15-year-old 
hired farm workers by modeling it after the same exemption that is 
available to 16- and 17-year-old youths employed in nonagricultural 
work places.
    The Department's proposals apply only to young hired farm workers 
and in no way change the statutory parental exemptions applicable to 
children of any age who are employed on a farm owned or operated by 
their parent.

C. The Assessment of Child Labor Civil Money Penalties (29 CFR Part 
579)

    The Department proposes to revise 29 CFR part 579 to provide 
additional transparency to its child labor civil money penalty 
assessment process by incorporating the primary provisions of Wage and 
Hour Division Field Assistance Bulletin 2010-1 (available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/FieldBulletins/fab2010_1.pdf). The Department believes 
this proposal will increase the public's understanding of the child 
labor civil money penalty assessment process while preserving national 
consistency in its administration.

Authority and Signature

    This document was prepared under the direction of Nancy J. Leppink, 
Deputy Administrator for the Wage and Hour Division, U. S. Department 
of Labor, pursuant to sections 3 and 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
(29 U.S.C. 203, 213).

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 28th day of September 2011.
Nancy J. Leppink,
Deputy Administrator, Wage and Hour Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-25472 Filed 10-3-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P