Labor Department to re-propose child labor in agriculture rule

The U.S. Department of Labor?s Wage and Hour Division announced Wednesday it will re-propose the portion of its regulation on child labor in agriculture interpreting the ?parental exemption.?

The department had proposed revisions to child labor regulations aimed to strengthen the safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture and related fields.

The originally proposed regulations would not have applied to children working on farms owned by their parents, but it would ban children younger than 16 from working on the farms of friends, extended family and neighbors.

The decision to re-propose is in part a response to requests from the public and members of Congress that the agency allow an opportunity for more input on this aspect of the rule.

?It?s good the Labor Department is rethinking the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families,? said Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley. ?What would be best for everybody involved is to scrap the whole thing and allow farm families to operate in a manner consistent with the rural living that allows children to learn and grow as part of a rural community.?

Grassley has vigorously defended the opportunity for youth to work on family farms. He has said generations of Iowans have cut their teeth working on the farm, whether for their own family or a neighbor?s farm, and that young people are a valuable part of farming operations.

The re-proposed portion of the rule is expected to be published for public comment by early summer, and those comments will be reviewed for inclusion in a final rule.

The department published and invited public comments on its original proposed rule on child labor in agriculture Sept. 2 through Dec. 1 at www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;dct=FR%2BPR%2BN%2BO%2BSR%2BPS;rpp=10;po=0;D=WHD-2011-0001.

Jeremy Hollingsworth, who farms in the Packwood area, left a comment on the website in November: ? ? These proposed rule changes are yet another example of a government agency searching for a problem that is not there. These proposed rule changes would further limit the freedom of farm families to teach their children valuable life lessons while improving the efficiency of the farm. Exemptions for parents having their own children help on the farm are a nice step in the right direction. However, other relatives or neighbor kids are also vital parts of family farms. ??

?I think that this idea is just plain out stupid,? Fairfield Middle School seventh-grader Kelly Lacey, who lives on a farm near Pleasant Plain, left as a comment in November.

?What are these kids going to do that are in 4-H, or the kids that live on a farm and want to show cattle, sheep, pigs or horses?? Lacey continued. ?Are they going to even get to show? What if they want to help in the field with crops or hay? 4-H is basically nothing without livestock. I?m in 4-H myself and my cattle, sheep and horses are my life. Because of them, I am where I am today. 4-H takes kids so far with their education and future. I VOTE NO!?