Iowa businesses that allow children to work longer hours than allowed under the state’s relaxed child labor laws will face lower fines.
A bipartisan panel of Iowa House and Senate lawmakers met Monday to review administrative rules adopted and filed by the Iowa Labor Services Division. The rules, which take effect Wednesday, cap civil penalties for businesses that violate restrictions governing when and how long children may work to $2,500 per instance. That's down from the current fine of $10,000 per instance.
The changes also increase the amount by which the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing can reduce penalties based on the size of the business. For example, a business with 25 or fewer employees could receive a 35 percent reduction.
The new rules do not apply to violations that result in a child's death and do not change penalties for workplace safety or hazardous conditions violations.
The new rules are the result of a Republican-led law passed in 2023 that loosened work requirements for teens as young as 14. The new law allows teens to work longer hours and at more jobs, including some that were previously considered hazardous.
A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing told The Gazette last month the adopted rules provide “a reasonable penalty,” and that employers “should not be subject to the same fine as an employer that is unlawfully subjecting a minor to hazardous conditions.”
Statehouse Democrats and Iowa labor union leaders argued that reducing penalties rewards bad behavior and further weakens protections for Iowa teens working longer hours.
Peter Hird with the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, noted the rules also remove a requirement that a parent be present when the child is working at a parent's business.
“Most family businesses have the best intentions in mind. We are concerned with the potential of bad actors,” Hird told lawmakers. “For example, we have seen children on (construction) job sites and working night shifts in (meat) packing plants.”
The federal government has imposed hefty fines on several Iowa businesses found violating child labor laws in the last two years, including those involved in meatpacking plants where minors were tasked with overnight sanitation shifts, handling dangerous machinery, and using corrosive chemicals.
“If a parent owned a contracting business such as these examples … the parent will be permitted to leave a child unsupervised, which would place a child in a precarious position,” Hird said.
“We believe the law should act as a deterrent to discourage employers from employing children at times when they should be receiving education or getting the necessary rest,” he said. “ … If anything, we should be increasing penalties for this type of behavior.”
Democratic lawmakers echoed the sentiment.
Iowa’s governor and all-Republican congressional delegation last summer called on the U.S. Department of Labor under former President Joe Biden to reassess its enforcement of teen labor laws in the wake of issuing fines to several Iowa restaurants that allowed teens to work later than permitted under federal rules.
The Iowa Restaurant Association said several Iowa restaurant owners faced fines ranging from $50,000 to $180,000 for following the new state law loosening work requirements for teens that conflicts with federal child labor regulations.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa’s federal lawmakers called the fines “excessive.”
Federal labor officials explicitly warned lawmakers and the governor that employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act who follow the less-restrictive Iowa law would be subject to penalties.
www.thegazette.com
A bipartisan panel of Iowa House and Senate lawmakers met Monday to review administrative rules adopted and filed by the Iowa Labor Services Division. The rules, which take effect Wednesday, cap civil penalties for businesses that violate restrictions governing when and how long children may work to $2,500 per instance. That's down from the current fine of $10,000 per instance.
The changes also increase the amount by which the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing can reduce penalties based on the size of the business. For example, a business with 25 or fewer employees could receive a 35 percent reduction.
The new rules do not apply to violations that result in a child's death and do not change penalties for workplace safety or hazardous conditions violations.
The new rules are the result of a Republican-led law passed in 2023 that loosened work requirements for teens as young as 14. The new law allows teens to work longer hours and at more jobs, including some that were previously considered hazardous.
A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing told The Gazette last month the adopted rules provide “a reasonable penalty,” and that employers “should not be subject to the same fine as an employer that is unlawfully subjecting a minor to hazardous conditions.”
Statehouse Democrats and Iowa labor union leaders argued that reducing penalties rewards bad behavior and further weakens protections for Iowa teens working longer hours.
Peter Hird with the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, noted the rules also remove a requirement that a parent be present when the child is working at a parent's business.
“Most family businesses have the best intentions in mind. We are concerned with the potential of bad actors,” Hird told lawmakers. “For example, we have seen children on (construction) job sites and working night shifts in (meat) packing plants.”
The federal government has imposed hefty fines on several Iowa businesses found violating child labor laws in the last two years, including those involved in meatpacking plants where minors were tasked with overnight sanitation shifts, handling dangerous machinery, and using corrosive chemicals.
“If a parent owned a contracting business such as these examples … the parent will be permitted to leave a child unsupervised, which would place a child in a precarious position,” Hird said.
“We believe the law should act as a deterrent to discourage employers from employing children at times when they should be receiving education or getting the necessary rest,” he said. “ … If anything, we should be increasing penalties for this type of behavior.”
Democratic lawmakers echoed the sentiment.
Iowa’s governor and all-Republican congressional delegation last summer called on the U.S. Department of Labor under former President Joe Biden to reassess its enforcement of teen labor laws in the wake of issuing fines to several Iowa restaurants that allowed teens to work later than permitted under federal rules.
The Iowa Restaurant Association said several Iowa restaurant owners faced fines ranging from $50,000 to $180,000 for following the new state law loosening work requirements for teens that conflicts with federal child labor regulations.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa’s federal lawmakers called the fines “excessive.”
Federal labor officials explicitly warned lawmakers and the governor that employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act who follow the less-restrictive Iowa law would be subject to penalties.
Capitol Notebook: Iowa lowers fines for businesses that violate law limiting child work hours
Also, Iowans protest bill that would shield pesticide companies over failure to warn consumers about health risks of their products
www.thegazette.com
