Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Child Labor Prevention Act”.
Child Labor Prevention Act
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to apply child labor laws to independent contractors, increase penalties for child labor law violations, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
in section 3 (29 U.S.C. 203)—
in subsection (d)—
by striking ““Employer” includes” and inserting “(1) “Employer” includes”;
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including paragraph (2), subsection (aa), section 12, and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, a worker)” after “employee”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(2) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including subsections (l) and (aa), section 12, and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, the term employer includes any person engaging an individual (including an independent contractor) for the performance of work.”
in subsection (j)—
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, worker)” after “employee” each place it appears; and
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, engaged for work)” after “was employed”;
in subsection (l)—
by striking “employment under” and inserting “work under”;
by striking “employee” each place it appears and inserting “worker”;
by striking “is employed by” each place it appears and inserting “performs work for”;
by striking “employing” and inserting “engaging for work”;
by striking “employment of” each place it appears and inserting “engagement for work of”;
by striking “employment in” and inserting “engagement for work in”;
by striking “employees” and inserting “workers”; and
by striking “such employment” and inserting “such work”;
in subsection (s), by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, workers)” after “employees” each place it appears; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(z) Work, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including subsections (d)(2), (l), and (aa), section 12, and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, means the performance of services for remuneration, including employment.
“(aa) Worker, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including subsection (l), section 12, and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, means any individual (including an independent contractor or an employee) engaged for work by an employer.”
in section 11 (29 U.S.C. 211)—
in subsection (a)—
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, work)” after “employment”; and
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, workers)” after “such employees”; and
in subsection (c)—
by inserting “or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, the persons working for the employer” after “employed by him”; and
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any such child labor provision of this Act, work)” after “employment”;
in section 12 (29 U.S.C. 212)—
in subsection (b), by striking “employment of” and inserting “engagement for work of”; and
in subsection (d), by striking “employee” and inserting “worker”;
in section 13 (29 U.S.C. 213)—
in subsection (c)—
in paragraph (1)—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
by striking “employee” each place it appears and inserting “worker”;
by striking “employed in” and inserting “engaged for work in”; and
by striking “so employed” and inserting “so engaged”;
in subparagraph (A)—
by striking “employed by” and inserting “engaged for work by”;
by striking “is employed with” by inserting “is engaged for work with”; and
by striking “employees” and inserting “workers”; and
in subparagraph (B)—
by striking “such employment” and inserting “such engagement for work”;
by striking “employed” and inserting “engaged for work”; and
by striking “employee” and inserting “worker”;
in paragraph (2)—
by striking “employee” each place it appears and inserting “worker”;
by striking “employed in” and inserting “engaged for work in”;
by striking “employment of” and inserting “engagement for work of”; and
by striking “employed by” and inserting “so engaged by”;
in paragraph (3), by striking “employed” and inserting “engaged for work”;
in paragraph (4)—
in subparagraph (A)—
in the matter preceding clause (i)—
by striking “employment” and inserting “engagement for work”; and
by striking “employed” and inserting “engaged for work”;
in clause (ii), by striking “employment” and inserting “engagement for work”;
in clause (iv), by striking “employment” and inserting “engagement for work”; and
in clause (v), by striking “employed” and inserting “engaged for work”; and
in subparagraph (B), by striking “employed” each place it appears and inserting “engaged for work”;
in paragraph (5)—
by striking “employee” each place it appears and inserting “worker”;
by striking “employees” each place it appears and inserting “workers”; and
in subparagraph (C)—
in clause (i), by striking “employee's” each place it appears and inserting “worker's”; and
in clause (iii)(I), by striking “employment” and inserting “work”;
in paragraph (6)—
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
by striking “employees who are under” and inserting “workers who are under”; and
by striking “Employee who are 17” and inserting “Workers who are 17”;
by striking “employee” each place it appears and inserting “worker”;
by striking “employee's” each place it appears and inserting “worker's”;
by striking “of employment” each place it appears and inserting “of work”;
in subparagraph (F), by striking “employees of” each place it appears and inserting “workers of”; and
in subparagraph (G), by striking “employment” and inserting “engagement for work”; and
in paragraph (7)—
in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking “employed” and inserting “engaged for work”; and
in subparagraph (B), in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “employment” and inserting “engagement for work”;
in subsection (d), by inserting “(or, for purposes of section 12, worker)” after “any employee”; and
in subsection (f), by inserting “(or, for purposes of section 11 (with respect to any child labor provision of this Act) and 12, worker)” after “any employee”;
in section 16(e)(1)(A) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)(A)), by striking “employee” and inserting “worker”; and
in section 18C (29 U.S.C. 218c)—
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, worker)” after “employee” each place it appears; and
by inserting “(or, for purposes of any child labor provision of this Act, including section 12 and any provision of this Act administering or enforcing such a child labor provision, of work)” after “employment” each place it appears.
Civil penalties— Section 16(e)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(1)), as amended by subsection (a)(5), is further amended—
in subparagraph (A)—
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “not to exceed” and inserting “of an amount (subject to subparagraph (C)) that is”;
in clause (i), by striking “$11,000” and inserting “not less than $5,000 and not more than $132,270”; and
in clause (ii), by striking “$50,000” and inserting “not less than $25,000 and not more than $601,150”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(C) The dollar amounts referred to in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall be increased annually, for fiscal year 2024 and every fiscal year thereafter, by the percent increase, if any, in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (all items; United States city average) for the most recent 12-month period for which applicable data is available.”
Criminal penalties— Section 16(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is amended—
by striking “Any” and inserting “(1) Any”;
by inserting “(other than subsection (a)(4) of such section)” after “section 15”;
by striking “subsection” each place it appears and inserting “paragraph”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(2) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates section 15(a)(4) shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more than $50,000, or to imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or both.”
Sec. 3 Effective dates
Application to all workers— The amendments made by section 2(a) shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Penalties— The amendments made by subsections (b) and (c) of section 2 shall apply with respect to violations alleged to have occurred on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.