IFB Stands Up for Farm Families in Child Labor Issue

Wednesday, Feb. 1, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that it would re-propose the portion of its regulation on child labor in agriculture interpreting the "parental exemption."

According to the Department of Labor, the decision to re-propose this portion of the child labor law revisions is, in part, a response to the requests from the public and members of Congress that the agency allow more input on this aspect.

The re-proposal process will seek comments and input as to how the Department of Labor can comply with statutory requirements to protect children, while respecting rural traditions of farm families and communities. The re-proposed portion of the rule is expected to be published for public comment by early summer. The Department of Labor will continue to review the comments received regarding the remaining portions of the proposed rule for inclusion in a final rule.

While the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) appreciates the opportunity to provide further comments, IFB still has serious concerns regarding the proposed changes in their entirety.

What follows is a statement from IFB President Philip Nelson in response to the developments this week.

"Based on the very legitimate concerns of farm families in Illinois and across the country, it's clear that the Department of Labor has taken a step back to reevaluate the family farm exemption in its proposed child farm labor rule. Illinois Farm Bureau welcomes the announcement and our members will be motivated to comment on the revised family farm exemption in the coming months. By the same token, this far-reaching rule would still severely limit supervised educational work opportunities for 14- and 15-year-olds and strictly prohibit teens from activities like herding cattle on horseback and using certain equipment like a battery powered screw driver. Unfortunately, it doesn't clearly define 'family farm,' which could negatively affect the ability of children to work on extended family members' farms, and also keeps the door wide open for future arbitrary government prohibitions on working in either hot or cold weather.

"Changes to the family farm exemption aside, this proposed rule would severely limit the ability of farmers and educators to teach safety - on the farm - to the next generation of farmers. For that reason, we remain strongly opposed to the proposal and urge the Department of Labor to take the next step and withdraw the entire final rule.

"Illinois Farm Bureau encourages its members and their families to visit the Keep Families Farming website and continue to register concerns about the proposed Department of Labor rules."