To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to strengthen the provisions relating to child labor, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Children's Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act) strengthens federal child labor laws to provide agricultural child workers the same protections as children in other industries. It raises minimum age requirements, eliminates exemptions that allowed children as young as 12 to work on farms, significantly increases civil and criminal penalties for violations, and requires employers to report child worker injuries, illnesses, and deaths.
Who Benefits and How
Children under 18 working in agriculture benefit from stronger safety protections and age restrictions that match non-agricultural work rules. Families of child farmworkers gain peace of mind from enhanced protections. Labor unions and worker advocacy groups achieve a long-sought goal of closing the 'agricultural exception' for child labor.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Agricultural employers (farms, ranches, food processors) face substantially higher compliance costs including new age restrictions, mandatory injury reporting within 5 days, and penalties up to $60,000 per serious violation (doubled for willful violations). The agricultural industry loses access to cheap child labor that has been historically permitted. Employers face potential criminal prosecution (up to 5 years imprisonment) for repeated violations causing death or serious injury.
Key Provisions
- Eliminates agricultural exemptions allowing children under 14 to work on farms (except family farms)
- Increases civil penalties to $500-$15,000 per violation, up to $60,115 for serious injury/illness/death
- Creates criminal penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment for repeated/willful violations causing death or serious harm
- Requires employers to report child worker injuries, illnesses, and deaths within 5 days
- Prohibits employment of children under 18 as pesticide handlers
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Strengthens child labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act, particularly for agricultural workers, by raising age requirements, increasing penalties, and adding new reporting requirements.
Key Policy Areas
Labor, Agriculture, Child Welfare, Workplace Safety
Primary Purpose
Strengthens child labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act, particularly for agricultural workers, by raising age requirements, increasing penalties, and adding new reporting requirements.
Policy Domains
Main - Child Labor Amendments
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Child farmworkers
- Labor unions and worker advocacy organizations
- Occupational safety advocates
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Agricultural employers
- Farms and ranches
- Food processing companies
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Ruiz (for himself, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Cárdenas, Ms. Norton, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Agricultural employers, Agricultural employers (non-family farms), Agricultural employers hiring children under 18
Positive-direction: Child farmworkers, Child workers currently handling pesticides
Negative-direction: Agricultural employers, Agricultural employers (non-family farms), Agricultural employers hiring children under 18, Agricultural employers using pesticides, Hand harvest operations, Pesticide application services
Employers violating child labor laws, Employers with serious child labor violations
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Labor
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Employment of children 16-17 in hazardous occupations, children 14-15 when interfering with schooling or health, or any child under 14
Any abnormal condition or disorder resulting from an event or exposure in the work environment; illnesses from employer premises are presumed work-related
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