| Child Labor In The United States |
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The United States has adopted numerous statutes and rules regulating the Employment Of Minors , called child labor laws. 19TH CENTURY LAWS In 1852, Massachusetts required children to attend school. In 1853, Charles Brace founded the '' Children's Aid Society '', which worked hard to take street children in. The following year, the children were placed on a train headed for the West, where they were adopted, and often given work. By the late 1800s, the orphan train had stopped running altogether, but its principles lived on. The '' National Child Labor Committee '', an organization dedicated to the abolition of all child labor, was formed in 1904. It managed to pass one law, which was struck down by the Supreme Court two years later for violating a child's right to contract his work. In 1924, Congress attempted to pass a Constitutional Amendment that would authorize a national child labor law. This measure was blocked, and the bill was eventually dropped. It took the Great Depression to end child labor nationwide; adults had become so desperate for jobs that they would work for the same wage as children. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act which, amongst other things, placed limits on many forms of child labor. FEDERAL CHILD LABOR LAWS ''Child labor laws are part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, as amended.'' Children 13 years old and younger are permitted to baby-sit, perform minor chores around private homes, deliver newspapers, or work as an actor or performer. They can also work for businesses entirely owned by their parents. They generally cannot work in other jobs. 14- and 15-year-olds are permitted to work only outside school hours. They can only work after 7am and before 7pm (hours are extended to 9pm from June 1 to Labor Day). They can only work up to 3 hours on a school day, and up to 18 hours in a school week. They can only work up to 8 hours on a non-school day, and up to 40 hours in a non-school week. They are not permitted to work in certain jobs declared hazardous for their age group by the Secretary Of Labor , which include: baking; operating, cleaning, setting-up, adjusting, repairing, or oiling power-driven machines including food slicers, processors, or mixers; filtering, transporting, and disposing of cooking oil when the temperature of the surfaces and oils exceed 100ºF; operating power-driven lawn mowers or cutters; working in freezers or meat coolers; working in warehousing; loading or unloading goods to or from trucks or conveyors; and operating or unloading scrap paper balers or paper box compactors. In addition, they are prohibited from working in any job deemed hazardous for 16- and 17-year-olds (see below). Some state departments of education allow employers to partner with a school district in a Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP). These partnered employers are permitted to employ 14- and 15-year-old during school hours, up to 3 hours on a school day, and as many as 23 hours in a school week. They also may work in some occupations that would otherwise be prohibited, but they still may not work in manufacturing, mining, or any job deemed hazardous for 16- or 17-year-olds. 16- and 17-year-olds are prohibited from working in certain jobs declared hazardous for their age group by the Secretary of Labor, which include: operating power-driven meat processing machines such as meat slicers, saws, patty forming machines, grinders, or choppers; operating commercial mixers; operating, feeding, setting-up, adjusting, repairing, or cleaning certain power-driven bakery machines; operating a forklift. In addition, they are not permitted to drive a motor vehicle on a public road as part of his or her employment, or serve as an outside helper on a motor vehicle on a public road. Seventeen-year-olds who meet certain specific requirements, however, may drive automobiles and trucks that do not exceed 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight for limited amounts of time as part of their job, as long as they do not make time sensitive deliveries, such as deliveries of catered food or other trips where time is of the essence, nor drive at night. Children aged 14 to 17 must be paid at least minimum wage of $5.15 per hour (Wages vary in each states). Employees under the age of 20 may be paid $4.25 per hour (Wages also vary in each states) during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer, as long as their work does not displace other workers. STATE CHILD LABOR LAWS Some states and localities have enacted their own child labor laws. For example, some states are more restrictive on the hours a child may work, include more jobs as hazardous, or require children to have permits to work. If an employer is located in a state or locality with its own child labor laws, the employer must comply with both state, local, and federal child labor laws. If a state and locality do not have their own child labor laws, employers need only comply with federal child labor laws. Check with your councilman or other State Official for more info on your State's child labor laws. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES
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