| Rights |
Teen agricultural employees rights may
include:
- Training about health and safety, including information about pesticides and other chemicals that could be harmful to your health.
[EPA
170.130]
- Paying you at least the
minimum wage for your work.
Some exemptions may apply.
- Working only the
limited hours and at the
types of work permitted by state and federal laws.
Federal child labor laws apply to agricultural work if you are under 16 years old.
- Paying you for medical care (workers' compensation) if you get injured or sick because of your job.
- Access to handwashing facilities, toilets, and potable
drinking water must be provided by employers of 11 or more field workers. [1928.110]
Field Sanitation.
Teen worker - responsibilities:
- Follow all child labor laws that apply to you.
- Follow all safety rules and instructions.
- Use any provided safety equipment and protective clothing.
- Wash your hands before eating or drinking in the fields.
- Never drink irrigation water.
- Know what to do in case of an emergency.
- Report any health and safety hazards to your supervisor.
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| State Labor Laws |
In addition to Federal child labor laws, every state has specific
laws that address child labor issues. When federal and state standards are different, the rules that provide the most protection to youth workers will apply.
Employers must comply with both federal and applicable state laws.
The following link provides a listing of child labor laws for each state.
Click on your state to view specific information such as your states
minimum wage law, or minimum age requirements for employment, Child
labor laws by state.
- Other interesting state information links:
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| Child Labor Laws |
What are child labor laws?
Federal child labor laws are established by the
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA
child labor provisions are designed to protect youth at work and prohibit
your employment in jobs and under conditions detrimental to your health
and safety.
Child labor laws
apply to young workers in agriculture. Hour and job restrictions depend upon your age and
the job you are doing. The rules are the same for all youth, including migrant
workers.
Agricultural
employment hour restrictions include:
- A youth 14- or 15-years-old can work in agriculture, on any farm, but only during hours when school is not in session and only in non-hazardous jobs.
- A youth 12 or 13 years of age, can work in agriculture on a farm
only if a parent has given written permission or is working on the same
farm. Again, the work can be performed only during hours when school is not in session and in non-hazardous jobs.
- Youth younger than 12 can work in agriculture on a farm only if the farm is not required to pay the
Federal minimum wage.
- A youth that is 16 years old or older, can work on any farm,
including during hours when school is in session, on any day, for any number of hours, and in any job.
- Some exemptions
exist. For example, youths of any age may work at any time in any job on a farm owned or operated by their
parents, or someone standing in place of their parent.
- State Child Labor Laws for agriculture may differ from state to state.
Can I work in any agricultural job?
No, the Secretary of Labor has found that the following agricultural occupations are
too hazardous for youths under 16 years of age. No youth under 16 years of age may be employed at any time in any of these
hazardous occupations in agriculture (HO/A) unless
they are specifically
exempt.
| HO/A #1 |
Operating a tractor of over 20 PTO (power-take-off) horsepower,
or connecting or disconnecting implements or parts to such a tractor. |
| HO/A#2 |
Operating or helping to operate any of the following machines (operating includes starting,
stopping, adjusting, or feeding the machine or any other activity involving physical contact with the machine):
(a) Corn picker, cotton picker, grain combine, hay mower, forage harvester, hay baler, potato digger, or mobile pea viner;
(b) Feed grinder, crop dryer, forage blower, auger conveyor, or the unloading mechanism of a non-gravity-type self-unloading wagon or trailer; or,
(c) Power post-hole digger, power post driver, or nonwalking-type rotary tiller. |
| HO/A #3 |
Operating, or assisting to
operate any of the following machines (operating includes starting, stopping, adjusting, or feeding the machine, or any other activity
involving physical contact with the machine):
(a) Trencher or earth moving equipment;
(b) Fork lift;
(c) Potato combine; or,
(d) Power-driven circular, band, or chain saw. |
| HO/A #4 |
Working on a farm in a yard, pen, or stall occupied by a:
(a) Bull, boar, or stud horse maintained for breeding purposes; or
(b) Sow with suckling pigs or cow with newborn calf with umbilical cord present. |
| HO/A #5 |
Loading, unloading,
felling, bucking, or skidding timber with a butt (large end) diameter of more than six inches. |
| HO/A #6 |
Working from a ladder or
scaffold at a height of over 20 feet (working includes painting, repairing, or building structures, pruning trees, picking fruit, etc.). |
| HO/A #7 |
Driving a bus, truck, or automobile when transporting passengers,
or riding on a tractor as a passenger or helper. |
| HO/A #8 |
Working inside:
(a) A fruit, forage (feed), or grain storage structure designed to
retain an oxygen deficient or toxic atmosphere. For example, a silo
where fruit is left to ferment;
(b) An upright silo within two weeks after silage (fodder) has been added or when a top unloading device is in operating position;
(c) A manure pit; or,
(d) A horizontal silo while operating a tractor for packing purposes. |
| HO/A #9 |
Handling or applying agricultural chemicals if the chemicals are
classified under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act as Toxicity Category I
- identified by the word "Danger" and/or "Poison" with skull and crossbones; or Toxicity Category II
- identified by the word "Warning" on the label. (Handling includes cleaning or decontaminating equipment, disposing of or returning empty
containers, or serving as a flagman for aircraft applying agricultural chemicals.) |
| HO/A #10 |
Handling or using a blasting agent including, but not limited to dynamite, black powder, sensitized
ammonium nitrate, blasting caps and primer cord. |
| HO/A #11 |
Transporting, transferring,
moving, or applying anhydrous ammonia (dry fertilizer). |
For more information see
29 CFR 570.71
Occupations Involved in Agriculture.
Department of Labor fact sheets and guides on agriculture:
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