New Law Affects Penalties for Child Labor Violations

Tucked into an
unrelated bill on genetic discrimination are important changes to penalties for
violating the child labor provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA). Here’s a look at the new FLSA penalties contained in the Genetic Information
Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which was signed into law by President Bush in
May. Although the majority of GINA takes effect next year, these FLSA-related
changes are in effect now.

Penalties for Death or Serious Injury

The new law imposes a
penalty of $50,000 if a child labor violation causes the death or serious injury
of an employee under age 18. This penalty can be doubled for willful or repeat
violations. “Serious injury” is defined as:

1. Permanent loss or
substantial impairment of one of the senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell,
tactile sensation);

2. Permanent loss or
substantial impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty,
including the loss of all or part of an arm, leg, foot, hand, or other body
part; or

3. Permanent
paralysis or substantial impairment that causes loss of movement or mobility of
an arm, leg, foot, hand, or other body part.

Other Changes

In addition, the new
legislation boosts penalties for minimum wage and overtime violations with
respect to minors. Employers can now be slapped with a penalty of $1,100 per

violation, up from $1,000.

You can link to the
new law online at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h493enr.txt.pdf.