And increasing number of state’s want to allow teenagers to put in more hours at work….
Probably at a cheaper rate of pay….
Competition against migrant labor?
The economy is doing soooooo good we’re reaching down for kids to work?
Legislators in multiple states are invoking a widespread labor shortage to push bills that would weaken long-standing child labor laws.
Why it matters: Some bills go beyond expanding eligibility or working hours for run-of-the-mill teen jobs. They’d make it easier for kids to fill physically demanding roles at potentially hazardous work sites.
- Protections could be stripped for youth most at risk of being exploited by employers, like migrant children and kids from families facing financial problems….
…
Thought bubble, via Axios’ Javier E. David: Employers in key sectors have been desperate for workers in the post-pandemic era.
- It should come as no surprise that — deprived of able-bodied adults — companies are more willing than ever to hire youngsters to do the jobs their elders won’t.
What they’re saying: “The notion that you would put kids at risk in order to meet some claimed labor shortage is just preposterous,” Michael Hancock, a civil rights and employment attorney and a former senior Department of Labor official, told Axios.
- Hancock said younger workers risk falling behind in school and may be more likely to accept lower wages because they don’t know the value of their labor.
Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said the provision in the Iowa bill that shields businesses from some liabilities essentially acknowledges the legislation would create dangerous working environments….
…
The big picture: The federal government promised to crack down on illegal child labor last month after observing a 69% increase in companies employing underage workers since 2018.
- One of the nation’s largest food sanitation companies, Packing Sanitation Services, was fined $1.5 million for illegally employing more than 100 minors to carry out hazardous jobs at its facilities.
- Hundreds of underage migrants work in factories and at construction sites across the country in violation of federal child labor laws, according to a New York Times investigation.
Reality check: States will still have to comply with federal regulations, which sets standards for the types of jobs minors can work.
- “Amid a 69% increase in children employed in violation of the law, it is irresponsible for states to consider loosening child labor protections,” Seema Nanda, solicitor for the U.S. Labor Department, said in a statement…..
Note…
Idea that the Fed’s would come in against this is a joke…..
In the last two years state’s have gotten to do their ‘own’ thing with the Supreme’s having their backs…..