To protect children from oppressive child labor and unsafe workplaces, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill creates dramatically increases civil monetary penalties for child labor violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (from $11,000 to $150,000 per violation, up to $700,000 for willful violations) and OSHA (from $7,000, creates new criminal penalties for child labor violations that endanger children: up to 1 year for negligent endangerment, up to 15 years (and $5M corporate fines) for knowing endangerment, and potential life, and imposes extends the time period during which goods produced in violation of child labor laws cannot be shipped in interstate commerce from 30 days to 90 days, strengthening the "hot goods" enforcement mechanism. It relies on reporting requirements, tax rate changes, compliance mandates, and trade restrictions. The main policy areas are Labor, Child Welfare, Trade, and Education.
Who Benefits and How
Child workers in hazardous conditions could face reduced risk, Department of Labor enforcement programs could gain revenue opportunities, and Child workers harmed by violations could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Employers who violate child labor laws could face higher costs, Employers who knowingly endanger child workers could face increased risk, and Meatpacking plants employing minors illegally could face higher costs.
Key Provisions
- Creates dramatically increases civil monetary penalties for child labor violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (from $11,000 to $150,000 per violation, up to $700,000 for willful violations) and OSHA (from $7,000...
- Creates new criminal penalties for child labor violations that endanger children: up to 1 year for negligent endangerment, up to 15 years (and $5M corporate fines) for knowing endangerment, and potential life...
- Imposes extends the time period during which goods produced in violation of child labor laws cannot be shipped in interstate commerce from 30 days to 90 days, strengthening the "hot goods" enforcement mechanism.
- Creates a private right of action allowing children harmed by child labor violations to sue employers for compensatory and punitive damages, expanding enforcement beyond government agencies.
- Establishes a 15-member National Advisory Committee on Child Labor to advise the Secretary of Labor and Secretary of HHS on oppressive child labor issues, child protection, and worker health and safety.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill creates dramatically increases civil monetary penalties for child labor violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (from $11,000 to $150,000 per violation, up to $700,000 for willful violations) and OSHA (from $7,000, creates new criminal penalties for child labor violations that endanger children: up to 1 year for negligent endangerment, up to 15 years (and $5M corporate fines) for knowing endangerment, and potential life, and imposes extends the time period during which goods produced in violation of child labor laws cannot be shipped in interstate commerce from 30 days to 90 days, strengthening the "hot goods" enforcement mechanism.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Child Welfare, Trade, Education
Primary Purpose
The bill creates dramatically increases civil monetary penalties for child labor violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (from $11,000 to $150,000 per violation, up to $700,000 for willful violations) and OSHA (from $7,000, creates new criminal penalties for child labor violations that endanger children: up to 1 year for negligent endangerment, up to 15 years (and $5M corporate fines) for knowing endangerment, and potential life, and imposes extends the time period during which goods produced in violation of child labor laws cannot be shipped in interstate commerce from 30 days to 90 days, strengthening the "hot goods" enforcement mechanism.
Policy Domains
Title I - Increasing Accountability for Violations
Identified Gains
- Child workers in hazardous conditions
- Department of Labor enforcement programs
- Child workers harmed by violations
- Training and education providers
- Policymakers and researchers
Identified Costs
- Employers who violate child labor laws
- Employers who knowingly endanger child workers
- Meatpacking plants employing minors illegally
- Manufacturers using illegal child labor
- Industries employing minors in potentially hazardous work
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Scott of Virginia (for himself, Ms. Omar, Ms. Bonamici, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Child workers harmed by violations, Child workers in hazardous conditions, Corporate executives at companies with child labor violations
Positive-direction: Child workers harmed by violations, Child workers in hazardous conditions
Negative-direction: Corporate executives at companies with child labor violations, Employers who knowingly endanger child workers, Employers who violate child labor laws, Industries employing minors in potentially hazardous work
Congress (oversight), Department of Labor, Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics
Child labor victim support organizations, Child welfare advocacy organizations, Child welfare researchers and advocates
Academic researchers studying child labor, Organizations providing child labor training and education, Training and education providers
Chemical manufacturers, Manufacturers using illegal child labor
Agricultural employers using child labor, Meatpacking plants employing minors illegally
Child labor researchers, Research grant recipients
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
- "the_secretary_hhs"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
- "the_secretary_hhs"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Employment of children under conditions determined by the Secretary to be particularly hazardous or detrimental to their health or well-being
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology