The Biden Administration recently announced a new initiative to investigate and enforce violations of child labor laws. Significantly, the crackdown will include more aggressive investigations of and accountability for companies benefiting from illegal child labor, even if those companies do not employ the children directly.
The federal child labor laws, which were authorized by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), were enacted to ensure that children and young people work in safe occupations that do not jeopardize their well-being or educational opportunities. The restrictions on child labor, including the jobs and number of hours that a minor may work, vary by age. Over the years, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) has refined the list of job duties that would be considered hazardous and therefore not available to minor workers. In addition, every state has a child labor law regulating the conditions under which employers may hire children and young people, as well as a compulsory school attendance law.
In their joint announcement on February 27, 2023, the DOL and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited the increase in children being employed illegally. Since 2018, the DOL has seen a 69 percent increase in unlawful child labor. They also concluded that the current maximum penalty – $15,138 per child – is not a sufficient deterrent for large corporations. In their announcement, the DOL and HHS specifically referenced the influx of migrant...
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