THE FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • FACT #1

    400,000-500,000 children between the ages of 12-17 are estimated to be working in U.S. agriculture.

  • FACT #2

    Under current U.S. law, youth working in agriculture do not receive the same protections provided to other working youth.

  • FACT #3

    Farmworker children who migrate must be uprooted from their homes, schools, and communities 2-3 times a year.

  • FACT #4

    Farmworker children’s mental health is suffering.

  • FACT #5

    Agriculture is our country’s most dangerous occupation for farmworker youth.

  • FACT #6

    Pesticides are highly toxic, and the population most vulnerable to them is farmworker children.

  • FACT #7

    Pesticides increase the risk of developmental disorders in farmworker children and can cause childhood cancer.

  • FACT #8

    Pesticides cause childhood cancer in farmworker children.

  • FACT #9

    Valley Fever sickens farmworker children and their parents in the course of their work in the fields.

  • FACT #10

    Momentum has been built to ban all children from applying or handling pesticides.

What are the Minimum Age Standards for Agricultural Employment?

  • Youths ages 16 and above may work in any farm job at any time.
  • Youth aged 14 and 15 may work outside school hours in jobs not declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.
  • Youths 12 and 13 years of age may work outside of school hours in non-hazardous jobs on farms that also employ their parent(s) or with written parental consent.
  • Youth under 12 years of age may work outside of school hours in non-hazardous jobs with parental consent, but only on farms where none of the employees are subject to the minimum wage requirements of the FLSA.
  • Local youths 10 and 11 may hand harvest short-season crops outside school hours for no more than 8 weeks between June 1 and October 15 if their employers have obtained special waivers from the Secretary of Labor.
  • Youth of any age may work at any time in any job on a farm owned or operated by their parents.

Resource:  https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs40.htm