Child labor penalties would get much tougher, and new programs would help prevent violations.
This bill would make penalties much tougher for employers who violate child labor laws. It would also create new programs to help businesses avoid these violations and offer financial compensation to affected child workers.
Today, child labor laws have civil and criminal penalties, but employees cannot directly sue for compensatory and punitive damages, and penalties do not adjust for inflation. There are no federal grant programs or advisory committees specifically for preventing child labor violations. If this bill becomes law, employees could sue for up to $250,000 in damages per child labor violation. Civil penalties would increase significantly (e.g., up to $132,270 for general violations, up to $601,150 for willful ones) and adjust yearly for inflation. New criminal penalties would be added, and federal grant programs and an advisory committee would be created to help prevent violations.
S 5414 · 119th Congress · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 9/10
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