Changes in Child Labor Laws have been a hot topic in recent years. In particular, these changes affect minors (individuals under the age of 18) working in agriculture. If you own or operate a farm that employs young people, here is some important information you need to know about hiring kids to work on the farm.
In general, the US Department of Labor allows kids under the age of 18 to work on farms with parental permission. See this US Dept. of Labor Fact Sheet, revised in December of 2016. Here are some highlights:
The US Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes regulations for minors working in agriculture. This act applies to employees whose work produces agricultural goods that leave the state and become a part of interstate commerce.
The FLSA sets minimum age standards for working in agriculture.
- You can hire kids 16 and older to perform any job on your farm at any time.
- Kids ages 14-15 may be hired to work on your farm outside of school hours. They can perform any job that the Secretary of Labor has not designated as hazardous.
- Kids 12-13 years of age can also be hired to work in non-hazardous jobs on your farm, as long as you have hired at least one of their parents, or if you have written parental consent.
- If the kids you hire are under 12 years of age, like kids ages 12-13, they may only work on your farm outside of school hours and you must obtain written consent from their parents. In addition, you must follow the minimum wage requirements set by the FLSA.
- You can hire local children ages 10-11 (not migrant workers) only with special waivers granted from the Secretary of Labor. However, their job duties are restricted to hand-harvesting short-season crops. They can only work outside of school hours, and they can work for no more than 8 weeks between June 1 and October 15.
- Kids of any age can work in any job at any time on a farm that their parents own or operate.
Here are just a few of the jobs that the Secretary of Labor has declared specific farm jobs as hazardous.
• operating a tractor if the tractor is over 20 PTO horsepower
- connecting or disconnecting parts from a tractor that is over 201 PTO horsepower
- working with or operating any of the following: cotton pickers, corn pickers, hay mowers, grain combines, hay balers, forage harvesters, mobile pea viners, potato diggers, forage blowers, crop dryers, feed grinders, or auger conveyors, and other equipment
These are just a few of the restrictions outlined in the US Department of Labor Fact Sheet linked above. Remember: The information on the fact sheet is just a summary. You should consult the US Department of Labor’s standards and regulations directly at its official site.
Lastly, recent changes in US Child Labor Laws call for farmers to abide by individual state regulations, which are generally much tighter. When federal and state regulations for child farm labor differ, the more stringent regulations apply. Here are regulations for New York State, for example.
Agrilegacy strives to keep farms in the family. If you have questions about hiring kids to work on your farm, Agrilegacy’s mission, or anything else, please contact us.
