Child Exploitation and Labor Laws

Child Exploitation through labor is employment, formal or informal, paid or unpaid, that is coerced, forced, bonded, enslaved, or otherwise unfair, injurious to the health or safety of a child, or interferes with a child’s access to education. The laws governing child labor in the United States apply to individuals under 18 years of age.

Child Labor on Farms

The most common cases for child labor exploitation in the United States are immigrant children employed on farms. They often work in the fields for over eight hours a day, and they are exposed to potential injury, pesticides, and other dangerous conditions. They do not go to school because of the need to earn money to live. Children age 12 and older are allowed to work for unlimited hours before and after school; however, when the age is younger or the hours are higher, child exploitation may be charged.

Dangerous Activities

Some agriculture jobs, due to their dangerous nature, are forbidden to be done by children under the age of 16, including:

•    Operating a tractor;
•    Operating or assisting in the operation of certain machinery, including fork lifts and chain saws;
•    Working in a yard, pen or stall occupied by a bull, boar, stud horse, pig with suckling piglets, or a cow with a newborn calf;
•    Felling, bucking, skidding, loading, or unloading timber with a diameter of more than 6 inches;
•    Working from a ladder or scaffold over 20 feet high;
•    Driving a bus, truck, or automobile while transporting passengers, and riding as a passenger on a tractor;
•    Working inside certain enclosed areas that are oxygen-deficient or toxic, including manure pits and fruit and grain storage facilities;
•    Working with toxic chemicals; and
•    Working with dynamite, ammonium nitrate, blasting caps or anhydrous ammonia.
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The following activities are forbidden to be done by a child of any age in any industry:

•    Manufacturing and storing of explosives;
•    Driving a motor vehicle and being a helper on a motor vehicle;
•    Coal mining and other mining;
•    Logging and sawmilling;
•    Operating power-driven wood-working machines, bakery machines, meat-processing machines, and slaughtering, meat packing or processing, and rendering, hoisting equipment, and metal-forming, punching and shearing machines;
•    Exposure to radioactive substances and ionizing radiations;
•    Manufacturing brick, tile and similar products;
•    Wrecking, demolition and ship breaking work;
•    Working in roofing; and
•    Working in excavation operations.

Getting Legal Help

If you are facing criminal charges of child exploitation, a criminal defense attorney in your state can help you by protecting your rights and fighting for your freedom. A lawyer will understand the law and how it impacts your case.