H.R. 3997 — Protecting Children Act

This section revises civil penalties under section 16(e) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA, 29 U.S.C. 216(e)) for oppressive child labor violations by (1) increasing the penalty to not more than $150,000 but not less than $1,500 (from $11,000) for violations, which may be doubled for repeated or willful violations; (2) increasing the penalty to not more than $700,000 but not less than $7,000 (from $50,000) for violations causing death or nonminor injury to a minor; and (3) directing the Secretary of Labor to consider the size of the business charged, the economic benefit of noncompliance, and other factors when assessing penalties. This section further revises civil penalties under section 17 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 666)—which apply to OSHA violations including willful or repeated serious violations (maximum penalties), other violations (lower maximum penalties), serious violations, and failures to abate—by (1) increasing maximum penalties to $700,000 (from $70,000) and $50,000 (from $5,000) under subsection (a)(1)(A), and to $70,000 but not less than $7,000 (from $7,000) for serious violations and failures to abate; (2) doubling (or trebling, if the employee was under 18 years of age) minimum and maximum penalties for significant violations causing serious physical harm to employees under 18 or causing any employee death; (3) directing the Secretary of Labor to consider the economic benefit of noncompliance, among other factors, when assessing penalties; and (4) defining significant violation as a serious, willful, or repeated violation, or a failure to correct such a violation.

This section enhances criminal penalties under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for willful violations of child labor prohibitions (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) that negligently, knowingly, or with deadly result place a minor in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, and under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) (29 U.S.C. 666(b)) for violations causing imminent danger, death, or endangering young workers. Specifically, for FLSA child labor violations, it establishes new penalties of (1) up to 1 year imprisonment for negligent imminent danger (doubled after a prior conviction); (2) up to 15 years imprisonment or $5 million fine per violation for non-individuals for knowing imminent danger (doubled after a prior conviction); and (3) life imprisonment or $10 million fine per violation for non-individuals if death results (doubled after a prior conviction). For OSHA violations, it revises penalties in paragraphs (1) and (2) to fines under 18 U.S.C., up to 5 years imprisonment, or both (doubled after a prior conviction, compared to prior maximums of $250,000 for individuals/$500,000 for corporations and 6 months imprisonment); replaces paragraph (4) with penalties mirroring the FLSA child labor structure (1 year for negligent imminent danger; 15 years or $5 million for knowing imminent danger; life or $10 million if death results, all doubled after a prior conviction); and adds paragraph (5) doubling paragraph (4) maximums for endangerment of young workers.

This section revises the prohibition on shipping goods produced using oppressive child labor (i.e., "hot goods" provision) by extending the look-back period from 30 days to 90 days prior to shipment and restructuring the provision into three subsections: (1) the general prohibition, (2) the good faith purchaser exception, and (3) the bar on successive prosecutions. (Thus, more goods may be subject to injunction if child labor violations occurred up to 90 days before removal from the production site.)

This section restructures the private enforcement remedies and procedures in FLSA section 16(b)—which authorizes employee suits for unpaid minimum wages (section 206), overtime (section 207), certain fair employment practices (section 215(a)(3) or 218d), and unlawful retention of tips (section 203(m)(2)(B)), including liquidated damages, attorney fees, costs, and collective actions with written consent—by adding subparagraph headings and numbered paragraphs. It further adds a new private right of action permitting any child harmed by an employer's child labor violation (section 12, i.e., employment of minors in hazardous occupations or outside permitted hours) to sue for compensatory and punitive damages.

This section establishes a National Advisory Committee on Child Labor to advise the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (acting through the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) on oppressive child labor, preventing children (including vulnerable children) from exposure to it, and protecting children's health, safety, and welfare in employment. The committee consists of 15 members appointed by the Secretary of Labor (five designated in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services), including representatives from state occupational safety and health agencies, equal numbers of employer and worker representatives, and others qualified in occupational safety and health, child welfare, labor trafficking, or child labor; holds at least two public meetings per year with transcripts available; and receives administrative support, compensation for private members as federal consultants or experts under 5 U.S.C. §3109, state reimbursements, and service continuity provisions. This section also adds a definition of "Advisory Committee" to section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (i.e., the committee established under new section 4A).

This section establishes the Child Labor and Safety and Health Fund in the Treasury, to be funded without fiscal year limitation by (1) civil penalties collected under FLSA §16(e)(5) for child labor violations (previously deposited in general Treasury funds) and (2) OSHA civil penalties enhanced for violations involving young workers (i.e., under certain repeat or willful provisions previously deposited in general Treasury funds). The Secretary of Labor must use fund amounts for a program addressing oppressive child labor (prohibited under FLSA §12) and occupational safety and health for employees under age 18, including (1) investigations, enforcement, implementation, and interagency collaboration; (2) training and education for children, employers, and professionals on child labor, safety, and young workers' rights; and (3) research conducted directly or via grants or contracts. (Thus, these penalties support dedicated enforcement and prevention rather than general Treasury revenue.) The Secretary of Labor must submit annual reports to specified congressional committees on fund receipts, uses, investigations, enforcement actions, trainings, and research.

This section amends section 12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212) by (1) transferring the last sentence of section 3(l) (29 U.S.C. 203(l)) to new subsection (e), titled "Children’s welfare"; and (2) adding subsection (f) directing the Secretary of Labor to periodically review hazardous occupation orders—prohibitions on minors under age 16 (or 18 for certain occupations) performing jobs declared particularly hazardous (e.g., mining, logging, power-driven machinery)—to determine whether to promulgate new orders or updates. New subsection (f) requires the Secretary, in conducting reviews, to prioritize child safety, health, and well-being; apply a higher protection standard for children than adults; adopt precautionary assumptions against reasonably anticipated hazards (e.g., carcinogens, neurotoxins); and consider recommendations from the Child Labor Advisory Committee and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (through NIOSH criteria). If the Advisory Committee recommends a new order or update, the Secretary must promulgate it within 90 days (or an alternative period up to 180 days), refer it for further review, or publish detailed reasons for denial. If NIOSH recommends one, the Secretary must act within 180 days by promulgating it, referring it to the Advisory Committee, or publishing reasons for denial. Promulgation follows notice-and-comment procedures under 5 U.S.C. §553 (60-day comment period).

This section replaces the judicial review provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) (29 U.S.C. 210), which previously authorized any aggrieved person to seek review in specified courts of the Secretary's orders issued under FLSA section 208 (i.e., minimum wage orders recommended by industry committees for certain U.S. territories). The revised provision (1) expands eligibility to any person adversely affected by an order, rule, or regulation under the FLSA; (2) specifies venue in the court of appeals for the person's circuit of residence or principal place of business, or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with filing of a petition not operating as a stay; (3) requires petitions within 60 days after Federal Register notice of the rulemaking (previously, within 60 days after entry of the order); and (4) precludes judicial review of covered agency actions in civil or criminal enforcement proceedings. (Thus, the revision broadens direct court challenges to all FLSA rulemaking while channeling them exclusively to this process and eliminating automatic stays.)

This section inserts a new section 5 in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), entitled "Research and related activities," after section 4. It transfers and redesignates former section 4(d)(2) as new section 5(a), amended to require periodic review of child labor exemptions (i.e., studies and a report due five years after the effective date of the Protecting Children Act and updated every 10 years thereafter, from a one-time study due by January 1, 1976); transfers and redesignates former section 4(d)(3) as new section 5(b), amended to require studies on preventing curtailment of employment opportunities for certain manpower groups; and makes conforming amendments to section 4(d). It further adds section 5(c), directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS, acting through the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)), after consultation with the Secretary of Labor and other agencies, to conduct research, experiments, and demonstrations on oppressive child labor (i.e., prohibited employment of children under FLSA section 12), occupational safety and health of young workers, and risks to vulnerable children, including prevention methods, enforcement strategies, surveillance of illnesses and injuries for workers under age 18, and identification of particularly hazardous conditions. New section 5(c)(2) requires HHS, in coordination with Labor, to develop a plan for monitoring work-related illnesses and injuries for employees under age 18, including (A) an evaluation of data collections within two years of enactment and periodically thereafter; (B) coordination of federal and state data efforts and advice to Labor on statistical programs; and (C) supplemental research to address gaps. In addition, new section 5(c)(3) requires HHS to consult with Labor on research for criteria supporting hazardous occupation orders under FLSA section 12, publishing such criteria at least annually; section 5(c)(4) requires precautionary criteria or models for identifying oppressive child labor absent child-specific data; and section 5(c)(5) requires research for evidence-based guidance to Labor on FLSA implementation, including enforcement, training for workers under age 18, deterrence, and noncompliance economics.

This section establishes under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) a statistical program requiring the Secretary of Labor to collect, compile, and analyze data on employment practices concerning wages, hours, child labor, and related violations—including demographic information on affected employees and facilitation of comparisons with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) statistics—and grants the Secretary the same authorities available under OSH Act section 24 (29 U.S.C. 673). For child labor specifically, the FLSA program requires (1) annual reports on employment of children under age 18 (including numbers, hours worked, and demographics disaggregated by age groups, school status, and occupations relevant to FLSA ss.12 and 13(c)), incidence and prevalence of oppressive child labor (including affected children’s demographics, industries, occupations, and violation types, with state-level estimates to the extent feasible), (2) periodic targeted surveys for vulnerable populations (e.g., migrant children and children in poverty), and (3) coordination of federal child-related statistical programs to standardize data on child employment, oppressive child labor, and young workers’ occupational illnesses and injuries. This section also amends OSH Act section 24(a) (29 U.S.C. 673(a)) to require annual reporting of occupational safety and health statistics, including analyses of illnesses, injuries, and fatalities disaggregated by relevant demographics and by age groups pertinent to FLSA child labor enforcement, across country of origin, race, and ethnicity.

This section adds a new section 18E to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) requiring the Secretary of Labor to establish programs for (1) educating employers and employees on recognizing, avoiding, and preventing FLSA violations; (2) training professionals serving children on identifying oppressive child labor (i.e., prohibited hazardous occupations or excessive hours for minors) and risk factors; and (3) identifying violations and supporting victims. It further requires under new FLSA section 18E (b) an annual report on oppressive child labor and youth employment—including enforcement activities, trends, and recommendations—and under section 18E(c) an annual enforcement capacity statement published by March 1 detailing inspectorate size, ratios to establishments and employees, historical trends, and inspection cycle metrics. This section also amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) as follows: (1) revises section 20(d) to require an annual report on occupational illness, injury, and fatality for workers under age 18—including complaints, statistics by demographics, incidence estimates accounting for underreporting, trends, and recommendations—which may be consolidated with other child employment reports; adds to section 20(d) an annual enforcement capacity statement published by March 1 including inspectorate size, ratios, trends, state plan data where feasible, and inspection cycle metrics; and (2) adds subsection (e) to section 21 requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct periodic research on effective safety training design and delivery for workers under age 18 and their employers.