By Judith E. Kramer
Fortney & Scott, LLC
Update: November 1, 2011: The U.S. Department of Labor has extended the comment period until December 1, 2011.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is accepting comments through November 1 on revisions to its proposed regulations aimed at strengthening safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture and related fields. The department plans to hold public hearings on the proposals after the comment period.
Under the proposed rules, minors of certain ages would be prohibited from performing certain agricultural occupations that are already banned for minors working in nonagricultural jobs. The proposed regulations wouldn’t affect the statutory child labor exemption involving children working on farms owned or operated by their parents.
The proposal would:
- Prohibit agricultural work with animals and in pesticide handling, timber operations, manure pits, and storage bins.
- Prohibit farm workers under age 16 from participating in the cultivation, harvesting, and curing of tobacco.
- Prohibit youth in both agricultural and nonagricultural employment from using electronic devices while operating power-driven equipment.
- Create a new nonagricultural hazardous occupations order that would prevent children under 18 from being employed in the storing, marketing, and transporting of raw farm product materials. Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feedlots, stockyards, livestock exchanges, and livestock auctions.
- Prohibit farm workers under 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment. A similar prohibition has existed as part of the nonagricultural child labor provisions for more than 50 years. A limited exemption would permit some student learners to operate certain farm implements and tractors equipped with proper rollover protection structures and seat belts under specified conditions.
Keep up with the latest developments in federal employment law and regulations and federal agency action with the Federal Employment Law Insider