Full Text of HR0680 97th General Assembly
HR0680 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes | 3 | | federal child labor standards for agricultural and | 4 | | non-agricultural employment; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The agricultural child labor rules have not been | 6 | | revised since they were first promulgated in the 1970s; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The FLSA charges the United States Secretary of | 8 | | Labor with prohibiting employment of youth in occupations which | 9 | | the Secretary finds and declares to be particularly hazardous | 10 | | for the employment of young workers; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The Act establishes a minimum age of 18 for | 12 | | hazardous work in non-agricultural employment and 16 in | 13 | | agricultural employment; the Act also provides a complete | 14 | | exemption from these rules for a youth who is employed on a | 15 | | farm owned by his or her parent; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, On September 2, 2011, the United States Department | 17 | | of Labor published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update | 18 | | the agricultural child labor regulations based upon | 19 | | recommendations made by the National Institute for | 20 | | Occupational Safety and Health, its own enforcement | 21 | | experience, and a commitment to bring these rules in line with |
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| 1 | | the more stringent rules that apply to employing children in | 2 | | non-agricultural workplaces; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, A few of the revisions proposed by the NPRM would | 4 | | require all tractors operated by 14 and 15-year-old student | 5 | | learners to be equipped with proper rollover protection | 6 | | structures and seatbelts and require that student-learners use | 7 | | the seatbelts, remove the 2 certification programs that allow | 8 | | 14 and 15 year-olds to operate most tractors and farm | 9 | | implements without supervision, revise the type of farm | 10 | | implements that 14 and 15 year-old student-learners may operate | 11 | | after successfully completing the academic units addressing | 12 | | each type of implement, and revise and expand the current | 13 | | prohibitions against working with animals; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Labor recently concluded | 15 | | the public comment period for the proposed regulations that | 16 | | would define restricted farm activities for workers under the | 17 | | age of 16; while these proposed regulations may not affect | 18 | | children working on their parents' farm, they would apply to | 19 | | children under the age of 16 who are hired by farming | 20 | | operations or are working on farms owned by other family | 21 | | members, such as grandparents, uncles, and cousins; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Many in the agricultural community are concerned | 23 | | that the Department of Labor's proposed regulations could |
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| 1 | | increase farm families' legal liabilities, as well as force | 2 | | them to change the way they operate their farms; the proposed | 3 | | regulations would also limit training for future farmers by | 4 | | reducing the exposure they have to the agricultural industry; | 5 | | and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Many young people use livestock as part of 4-H, | 7 | | FFA, and other programs, but under the proposed rules, | 8 | | individuals under the age of 16 would be prohibited from being | 9 | | near certain animals without adult supervision; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The proposed rules would also prohibit youth from | 11 | | operating most power equipment, including power-driven | 12 | | equipment such as riding lawnmowers; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The proposed regulations would hinder the ability | 14 | | of some youths to earn money during the summer by limiting the | 15 | | number of jobs that are available to them; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Any implemented rule changes should maintain the | 17 | | integrity of the family farm exemption approved by Congress; | 18 | | and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Considerable changes should be made to the | 20 | | proposed regulations before they are finalized; therefore, be | 21 | | it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 | | we urge the United States Department of Labor to carefully | 4 | | consider all of the comments submitted on their proposed | 5 | | regulations for youth in agricultural employment before | 6 | | finalizing any rule changes; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That we further urge the U.S. Department of Labor | 8 | | to revise the proposed regulations before they are finalized so | 9 | | as to not create a barrier to young people learning about the | 10 | | agriculture industry and entering agricultural careers; and be | 11 | | it further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 13 | | delivered to U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and to each | 14 | | member of the Illinois congressional delegation.
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