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Child Labor Maps
We reviewed state-level agricultural and non-agricultural child labor laws for discrepancies with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Even though the FLSA is not a 'gold standard' in national child labor laws, it is federal law in the US and we have used this comparison to identify the potential for violations of children's basic rights in the United States, and to monitor where states are rolling their laws back.
States in yellow have proposed or have made recent changes to child labor law.
Numbers in italic brackets are the FLSA age standards: e.g. (14) = 14 years old.
Please see below the map for methodology and definitions.
Methodology and definitions: Agriculture
- STATE EXEMPTIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL CHILD LABOR: Several states have no or partial legislation regarding agricultural child labor. Where there is no legislation, these states usually default to the FLSA's agricultural child labor laws. However, during the course of the research, discrepancies were discovered between guidance provided by the state itself (through telephone calls and website information), the state legislative codes, and interpretations made by the US Department of Labor. Where these discrepancies arose, a note has been made at the bottom of each state's entry.
STATE EXEMPTIONS FOR SMALL FARMS:
MINIMUM AGE: The FLSA minimum age for agricultural work is 12 with parental consent or with a parent/guardian; 14 without consent; and there is no minimum age to work on a farm owned or operated by a parent or guardian. For states, we used the minimum ages specified at which a child can work part-time using the same definitions as the FLSA.
MINIMUM HAZARDOUS WORK AGE: The FLSA minimum age for hazardous agricultural labor is 16, or 14 with certification for some types of work. For states, we used the minimum ages specified at which a child can work part-time using the same definitions as the FLSA.
SCHOOL IN SESSION: The FLSA specifies that children aged 14-15 years old can only work 3 hours per weekday, 8 hours per weekend day, a total of 18 hours per week, and between 7 AM and 7 PM, when school is in session. We identified any violations of these regulations in state laws.
JUNE 1 TO LABOR DAY: The FLSA specifies that children aged 14-15 years old can work 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week during this period, between 7 AM and 9 PM. We identified any violations of these regulations in state laws.
ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS: The FLSA does NOT legislate for breaks, maximum days worked per week, or work permits, nor does it regulate hours for 16-17 year olds. We identified where states offer any of these additional protections.
This map was made possible through research conducted by Julie Johnson, Esha Kode, Penelope De Roys, Emerson Femc, Ella Kruczynska, Morgan Keyt, and Shaharazad Abuel-Ealeh.
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