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Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Child Labor

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) child labor provisions are designed to protect the educational opportunities of minors and prohibit their employment in jobs and under conditions detrimental to their health or well-being. The provisions include restrictions on hours of work for minors under 16 and lists of hazardous occupations orders for both farm and nonfarm jobs declared by the Secretary of Labor to be too dangerous for minors to perform.

Nonagricultural Jobs (Child Labor)

Regulations governing youth employment in nonfarm jobs differ somewhat from those pertaining to agricultural employment. In nonfarm work, the permissible jobs and hours of work, by age, are as follows:

·          Youths 18 years or older may perform any job, whether hazardous or not, for unlimited hours;

·          Youths 16 and 17 years old may perform any nonhazardous job, for unlimited hours; and

·          Youths 14 and 15 years old may work outside school hours in various nonmanufacturing, nonmining, nonhazardous jobs under the following conditions: no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a nonschool day, or 40 hours in a nonschool week. Also, work may not begin before 7 a.m., nor end after 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended to 9 p.m. Under a special provision, youths 14 and 15 years old enrolled in an approved Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP) may be employed for up to 23 hours in school weeks and 3 hours on school days (including during school hours).

Fourteen is the minimum age for most nonfarm work. However, at any age, youths may deliver newspapers; perform in radio, television, movie, or theatrical productions; work for parents in their solely-owned nonfarm business (except in manufacturing or on hazardous jobs); or, gather evergreens and make evergreen wreaths.

Farm Jobs (Child Labor)

In farm work, permissible jobs and hours of work, by age, are as follows:

·          Youths 16 years and older may perform any job, whether hazardous or not, for unlimited hours;

·          Youths 14 and 15 years old may perform any nonhazardous farm job outside of school hours;

·          Youths 12 and 13 years old may work outside of school hours in nonhazardous jobs, either with a parent's written consent or on the same farm as the parent(s);

·          Youths under 12 years old may perform jobs on farms owned or operated by parent(s), or with a parent's written consent, outside of school hours in nonhazardous jobs on farms not covered by minimum wage requirements.

Minors of any age may be employed by their parents at any time in any occupation on a farm owned or operated by their parents.

Additional Information

For additional information, you may call the U.S. DOL Wage-Hour toll-free information and helpline, available 8am to 5pm in your time zone, at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

You may also visit the DOL Wage-Hour website at:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/

For more information about the specific application of Child Labor provisions in the FLSA, contact your local U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour District Office. It is listed in most telephone directories under United States Government, Labor Department. Contact information and service areas, listed by State, are also available online at:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/whd/america2.htm

Also see:

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Overview

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Coverage

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Exemptions

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - FAQ

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Special Minimum Wages

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Certification for Special Minimum Wages

Source

Information for this topic was drawn from the U.S. DOL web site at:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/hrg.htm

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