Enforcement of Existing Laws Enforcement of Child Labor Laws and Wage and Hour Laws Federal Enforcement

Enforcement of Existing Laws Enforcement of Child Labor Laws and Wage and Hour Laws Federal Enforcement

The Wage and Hour Division of DOL is charged with enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. Wage and Hour investigators are stationed across the US and are authorized to conduct investigations and determine compliance with child labor and the other provisions of the FLSA. As noted above, the weak protections for child farmworkers in federal labor laws enable most employers to hire child workers legally.

In 2010, Human Rights Watch documented poor enforcement of child labor laws in agriculture by the Wage and Hour Division. 361 Since 2010, the division has hired additional

358 “General duty clause” refers to section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which requires employers to “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are

causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” 359

29 U.S.C. sec. 667(c)(2). 360 United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, “Frequently Asked Questions about

State Occupational Safety and Health Plans,” undated, https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/faq.html#oshaprogram (accessed January 23, 2014). 361 Human Rights Watch, Fields of Peril: Child Labor in US Agriculture , May 2010,

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2010/05/05/fields-peril (accessed February 3, 2014).

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The “hot goods” provision is another enforcement tool. The provision prohibits the shipment in interstate commerce of any goods produced in violation of minimum wage, overtime, or child labor requirements. 364 It can be extremely effective, particularly in agriculture, in that it allows the Wage and Hour Division to seek temporary restraining orders preventing the movement of tainted goods, incentivizing companies, growers, and other affected businesses to cooperate with the division. Such cooperation has included future compliance agreements and arrangements for ongoing monitoring. Though use of the “hot goods” provision increased in 2013, it remains an exceptional law enforcement tool: the division invoked the provision only once in 2012 and five times in 2013. 365

Enforcement of Health and Safety Laws and Regulations The enforcement of health and safety laws and regulations concerning farmworkers is piecemeal. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division is responsible for enforcing violations of the hazardous occupations orders across all industries. The Wage and Hour Division also enforces OSHA’s Field Sanitation Standard, but only in states where OSHA has jurisdiction; state agencies are responsible for enforcement of the Field Sanitation Standard when

362 Human Rights Watch interview with Derrick Witherspoon, branch chief, FLSA and Child Labor, Division of Enforcement Policy and Procedures; James Kessler, branch chief, Immigration and Farm Labor, Division of Enforcement Policy and

Procedures; Michael Hancock, assistant administrator for policy; Mike Lazzeri director, Division of Enforcement Policy and Procedures, et al., Wage and Hour Division, US Department of Labor, Washington, DC, October 23, 2013. 363 Email from Michael Kravitz, director of Communications, Wage and Hour Division, US Department of Labor, to Human

Rights Watch, December 19, 2013. Regarding all child labor cases, the Wage and Hour Division found 704 cases of child labor violations in 2013. 364 The “hot goods” provision came into use by the Wage and Hour Division in 1998, although it has been part of the FLSA

since its origination in 1938. The provision as it pertains to child labor reads in part: “No producer, manufacturer, or dealer shall ship or deliver for shipment in commerce any goods produced in an establishment situated in the United States in or about which within thirty days prior to the removal of such goods there from any oppressive child labor has been employed.”

29 U.S.C. sec. 212(a). 365 Email from Michael Kravitz, director of Communications, Wage and Hour Division, US Department of Labor, to Human

Rights Watch, December 19, 2013.

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366 Human Rights Watch interview with Patricia Davidson and Michael Hancock, Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor, Washington, DC, February 28, 2014.

367 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “FY2012 WPS Inspection and Enforcement Accomplishment Report,” March 21, 2013, http://www.epa.gov/compliance/monitoring/programs/fifra/wps.html (accessed February 3, 2014).

368 EPA, “FY2012 Overview of WPS Violations During an Inspection,” March 27, 2013, http://www.epa.gov/compliance/monitoring/programs/fifra/wps.html (accessed February 3, 2014).

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