CARE Act of 2015

Children's Act for Responsible Employment of 2015 or the CARE Act of 2015

Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to define "oppressive child labor," for purposes of the Act's child labor prohibitions, as the employment of any employee who is:

• 16 or 17 in any occupation found by the Department of Labor to be particularly hazardous for their employment or detrimental to their health or well-being;
• 14 or 15, unless the employment is confined to periods which do not interfere with the employee's schooling, health, or well-being; or
• under 14.

Revises the Act's exemptions to make the restrictions on oppressive child labor inapplicable to the following:

• employment in agriculture of an employee under age 18 by his or her parent, or by a person standing in the place of the parent, on a farm owned by the parent or person (current law uses an age- and consent-based scheme); and
• employment of an employee under age 16 by a parent, or a person standing in place of a parent, other than in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, or any other employment the Department finds to be particularly hazardous for the employment of children age 16 or 17 or detrimental to their health or well-being. (Current law applies the child labor restrictions to particularly hazardous agricultural employment, except where the child is employed by a parent or a person standing in place of the parent on a farm owned or operated by such person).

Eliminates any waiver of such prohibitions for hand-harvesting of certain crops.

Increases civil and establishes criminal penalties for child labor violations.

Directs the Department to revise federal child labor regulations to prohibit the employment of children under age 18 in duties involving the handling of pesticides.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov