‘Can My 2-Year-Old Drive A Tractor Or Combine?’ Federal Law Has A Surprising Answer

MARY HIGHTOWER

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS

 Youngsters have worked on family farms for generations, but federal labor law is very specific about when and in what jobs minors under 16 can work, said Audry Thompson, staff attorney at the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law.

Thompson provided specifics during her webinar “Minors Working on the Farm: Child Labor Laws for Agriculture,” hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center on Aug. 19.

“When we look at the history of child labor in the United States, agricultural work is really the first kind of work that minors were doing prior to the Industrial Revolution,” she said. “There’s a long history of minors working on farms and often, those farms were where they lived.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, defines many areas of labor law in the United States. It was passed in 1938, a time when the United States had nearly 7 million farms and work by minors was common. However, the FLSA does impose limits on child labor in general and on farms.

There is a significant exception to child labor laws on the farm.

“A child of any age can be employed by their parent at any time in any occupation on a farm owned or operated by that parent,” Thompson said. “Essentially, if a minor is working for their parent on their parent’s farm, federal labor law does not have anything to say about them.”

However, the parental exemption does not apply when children are working on non-parental farms or when doing secondary processing on ag products raised by others, even if parental permission has been given.

There may also be limits imposed by state child welfare laws.

“Is it a violation of federal labor law to let your two-year-old drive your tractor or combine? No, it is not,” she said. “It will be your state Family Services or, potentially, criminal charges at that point if that child is injured.”

When not working on a farm run by their parents, children with parental consent under 12 may work on a small farm outside of school hours, provided the child is not doing work the Department of Labor classifies as hazardous. Actions defined as hazardous include handling decontamination equipment, operating power-driven farm equipment, applying anhydrous ammonia or other specific chemicals, or working inside a manure pit.

The Fair Labor Standards Act specifies that:

• Children 12-13 can work non-hazardous jobs on any size farm as long as it is outside of school hours and has either parental consent or if the labor is conducted on a farm where the parent is employed.
• Children 14-15 can work any non-hazardous farm job outside school hours.
• Youth 16 and older can work any farm job, including those categorized as hazardous, any time.

Thompson noted that ag operations need to pay attention to state labor laws as well.

“There are many states that come in above this and say no work — period — below the age of 14,” Thompson said.

A recording of the presentation is available online. Find additional articles on child labor online at the National Agricultural Law Center.  ∆

MARY HIGHTOWER

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS