Child Labor Provisions: An Amendment To The FLSA

Today Although many laws were passed in the United States to prevent underage working, select industries, namely agriculture, continue to employ children. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 rules that children aged 12 or older are legally allowed to work in agriculture. In addition, there is no set minimum age to work on small farms. According to Human Rights Watch, children who work in agriculture are 4 times more likely to drop out of school.

equal pay for work of equal value or pay equity must be guaranteed, requiring that women’s work

How would you feel about your food sitting out all day? 3 abuses the Progressive Era fought to change we're working conditions, cites/environments and consumer protections. There were horrible working conditions like child labor; so they passed a law called National child labor law to prevent that from happening.

For centuries, there has been a common relationship between employers and employees. Over the course of that time, the workplace and the jobs within it have evolved as new jobs were created, ways to execute tasks became more advanced and laws were enacted to put into place fair employment for those in the workforce. In 1938, congress would pass and President Roosevelt would sign the Wages and Hours Bill, more commonly known as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). This federal statute introduced a 44 hour, seven day work week, established the national minimum wage, guaranteed overtime pay in specific types of jobs at a rate of “time and a half”, and it defines oppressive child labor, which prohibits most employment of minors. The FLSA applies to those employees engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage.

In 1900, children as young as nine years old were once expected to work sixteen hours a day in harsh conditions. They were useful because of their small size and the owners being able to pay low wages. Child labor laws exist because brave men, women, and children fought for these rights. The conditions of the children’s working environment caused Lewis Hine and the newsies to act upon it.

Child labor is historically defined as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development” (Hansan, 2013). Legally, to be considered child labor, work must involve at least one of the following characteristics:

Child Labor, once known as the practice of employing young children in factories, now it's used as a term for the employment of minors in general, especially in work that would interfere with their education or endanger their health. Throughout history and in all cultures children would work in the fields with their parents, or in the marketplace and young girls in the home until they were old enough to perform simple tasks. The use of child labor was not a problem until the Factory System. The Factory System is a working arrangement where a number of people cooperate to produce articles of consumption. Some form of Factory system has existed even since ancient times.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is in place to make it so men and women are paid the same if they are performing the same jobs. It gives equality in the workplace between men and women.

The decade of the 1910’s was one of many changes. Many changes that were decades in the making were finally fulfilled. These changes came from new governmental policies, increases in industry, and the rising incomes of Americans. Many new rights were given to Americans in the 10s, in particular, child labor laws were changed, and women were given more freedom. In 1910, children under 15 made up 18% of the nation's employment. Many of these jobs were very dangerous, had long shifts, and very low pay. Congress passed child labor laws in 1916 and 1918 as part of the progressive agenda. However, the Supreme Court declared these laws unconstitutional.Women could be considered second class citizens in the 10s. Women were given few options both educationally,

An important federal employment law that all employees and employers should be aware of is the Equal Pay Act of 1963. As conversed in week nine of class discussion and video lecture, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 ends wage disparity based on sex. The main goal of this act was to ban discrimination in wages, benefits, and pensions based the gender of an employee in any place of employment. Women traditionally earned less than men for doing similar work. The United States has had a long history of knowledge of unequal pay between men and women, but it was not until around World War II that the problem arose and women started fighting for their rights on this issue. Women have tried passing several bills to help close this pay gap throughout the 1950’s, but ended up in failure.

child labor laws during the Progressive Era and some that still stay today; including the first child labor law know as the Keating-Owen bill of 1916 as stated by Our Documents. “The act banned the sale of products from any factory, shop, or cannery that employed children under the age of 14, from any mine that employed children under the age of 16, and from any facility that had children under the age of 16 work at night or for more than 8 hours during the day” (Our Documents). There was also many other laws like the child labor tax law, the 1999 Child Labor Deterrence Act, the 1938 law that allows children to work in agriculture legally, the Keating-Owen Bill and in 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act law that placed limits on many forms of child labor signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as stated by Reid Maki from Stop Child Labor. In addition, many of the legislations were unconstitutional by the supreme court, but other legislations like the Fair Labor Standards Act which regulates child labor is still in use today as stated by

In 1919, Congress passed the Child Labor Tax law otherwise known as the Revenue Act of 1919. The law stated that if a company used employees under the age of 14, there would be a tax of 10% on annual net profits. After the Drexel Furniture Company was found in violation of the act, the company paid $6,000 in taxes as a sign of protest later on suing claiming the tax was unconstitutional.

(a) that pay for the same work at piece rates shall be calculated on the basis of the same unit of measurement;

In 1970, the Equal Pay Act was introduced. It requires employers to provide equal pay for equal work. The Sex Discrimination Act enforces fair recruitment policies. The European Equal Pay Directive and the Equal Treatment Directive are also in force.

The general principal behind this act is to ensure employees welfare and quality of life is safeguarded. Employees should therefore welcome and support any effort by the organization to adhere to its recommendation. Furthermore, adhering to this law ensures compensation discrimination is avoided. This is especially true considering FLSA was amended by the Equal Pay Act (EPA) in 1963. As a result, employers are restricted from paying unequal salary based on ones gender. Employees should be compensated equally provided they perform similar jobs, encompassing similar responsibilities and under same conditions (Ross, 2011).