• Before the FLSA, children were more likely working than playing.caution children at play image by Krista Richard from Fotolia.com
  
  The exploitation of child labor in the United States increased exponentially with the dawn of the Industrial Age. The 1900 census revealed that 1.75 million children between the ages of 10 and 15 comprised part of the national labor force. These numbers did not dramatically decline until the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938 with its explicit child labor regulations (29 CFR §570).
  
  

Purpose and Scope

• The FLSA child labor regulations were designed to protect youth educational rights and prohibit their employment in hazardous work. They are enforced by federal, state and local governments and define acceptable full-time and part-time employment practices for individuals under the age of 18.
  
  

Age

• 2010 FLSA revisions allow teens to perform work of an "artistically creative nature."teens with laptop image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
  
  In general, the FLSA establishes a minimum age requirement of 14 for occupations in retail, food service and gasoline service establishments and defines permissible responsibilities and operations (e.g. clerical, cashiering, cleaning, food preparation). The most recent statutory revisions (effective as of July 19, 2010) allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work in areas of employment in an “artistically creative nature” including computer programming, teaching, tutoring and other jobs.
  
  

Work Hours

• Individuals 14- to 15-years-old can work outside of school hours after 7 a.m. and until 7 p.m. (exceptions apply from June 1 through Labor Day where they can work until 9 p.m.). The law also requires that 14- to 15-year-olds work no more than three hours on a school day and eight hours on a non-school day. The latest revisions define a workweek for this age group as “a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours--seven consecutive 24-hour periods.” Those over 16 have no restriction on the number of work hours allowed.
  
  

Minimum Wage

• As of 2010, a minimum wage of $4.25 per hour is required compensation for individuals under 20 during their first 90 consecutive days of employment with a single employer. State regulations for youth minimum wage may vary but cannot fall below this threshold or duration.
  
  

Hazardous Employment

• The FLSA prohibits the employment of children in work involving power-driven tools.power tool woman image by Jarek Miarka from Fotolia.com
  
  The FLSA details the occupations and areas of employment deemed “Particularly Hazardous for the Employment of Minors Between 16 and 18 Years of Age or Detrimental to Their Health or Well-Being.” They include but are not limited to mining, logging, excavation, roofing and other power-driven machinery-dependent occupations and industries. Exemptions do exist for those who can establish that they are engaged in “apprenticeships” as defined by the law.
  
  

Agriculture and Farming

• There are no restrictions for employing youth on small farms owned by their parents or guardians, or who meet certain requirements as “student-learners” as defined by the statute. However, for those under the age of 16 who do not meet these exemptions, FLSA outlines the “particularly hazardous” duties associated with agriculture and farming that prohibit the employment of anyone under 16 (e.g., operating a tractor).
  
  In an effort to deter the illegal employment of children of migrant workers, the Department of Labor is imposing heavier fines. Violators caught illegally employing children under 14 can be subject to fines as high as $11,000 per violation, as of 2010.