US to Crack Down on Child Labor

The Federal Government announced plans to crack down on child labor on Monday, as U.S. officials have seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations.

In the last fiscal year, 835 companies were found to have violated child labor laws, and officials told reporters that an interagency task force on child labor has been created, to target industries where violations are most likely to occur.

The Biden administration is also pushing for heavier penalties for companies that violate these laws, and more funding for enforcement and oversight. U.S. federal law prohibits people under age 16 from working in most factory settings, and those under 18 are barred from the most dangerous jobs in industrial plants.

The maximum civil monetary penalty is currently just $15,138 per child, a figure that the administration says is, “not high enough to be a deterrent.”

Earlier this month, a major food safety sanitation company paid $1.5 million in penalties for employing more than 100 teenagers in dangerous jobs at meatpacking plants in eight states, following a Labor Department investigation.

Reuters previously reported that a record number of unaccompanied migrant minors entered the country in recent years, who have been released to sponsors while immigration authorities resolve their requests for refuge in the United States.

Employers who outsource labor needs to Staffing Agencies should find out their contractor’s policies preventing minors from being pulled into work environments. Jobs Interface screens workers to eliminate minors and delinquents from staffing pools.

The Biden administration said earlier this year that it will speed up the deportation relief process for immigrants in the United States illegally who witness or experience labor abuses.