CARE Act Quadruples Penalties for Child Labor Violations, Bans Minors from Pesticide Handling

The Childrens Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety of 2025, or the CARE Act, is taking a hard look at child labor in agriculture, aiming to close loopholes and significantly increase the cost of breaking the rules. The bill starts by acknowledging a tough truth: kids working in agriculture have historically been allowed to work younger, longer, and under more hazardous conditions than their peers in other industries. This legislation focuses on bringing agricultural child labor standards closer to those in other sectors while dramatically boosting enforcement.

The End of the Hand-Harvest Loophole

If you’ve ever wondered why the rules seemed different for farm work, a big part of it was Section 13(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The CARE Act targets this by getting rid of a specific waiver that allowed certain hand harvest laborers to be employed under less strict conditions. What does this mean in practice? It tightens the definition of "oppressive child labor" (SEC. 3) by removing one of the key exceptions that allowed younger children to work. While the bill maintains the exception allowing children under 18 to work if they are employed by their parent on a farm owned by that parent (SEC. 4), the overall trend is toward stricter age requirements for non-family farm employment.

Skyrocketing Penalties for Serious Harm

Agricultural employers need to pay close attention to the new penalty structure, which is designed to make violations prohibitively expensive. Currently, the maximum penalty for a standard child labor violation is often much lower. Under the CARE Act, the maximum fine for a standard violation involving an employee under 18 jumps to $15,000 per affected employee, up from previous limits. More critically, if a violation leads to a serious injury, serious illness, or death, the penalty floor is set at $15,000 and can reach up to $60,115 per violation (SEC. 5). If that violation is found to be repeated or willful, that maximum penalty effectively doubles. For employers who repeatedly or willfully cause death, serious injury, or serious illness, the stakes get even higher: they could face up to 5 years of imprisonment and criminal fines (SEC. 6). The bill also defines "serious illness" broadly, including any abnormal condition or disorder resulting from an event or exposure in the work environment, with a presumption that illnesses occurring on the employer's premises are work-related.

No More Kids Handling Pesticides

One of the most direct safety improvements is the immediate prohibition on minors handling chemicals. The bill explicitly states that the Secretary of Labor must revise regulations to prohibit employing any child under the age of 18 to perform any tasks or duties defined as a “pesticide handler” (SEC. 9). This is a huge win for safety, recognizing the specific dangers of chemical exposure to developing bodies. For agricultural businesses, this means clearly separating duties and ensuring that workers under 18 are not involved in any aspect of pesticide application or handling, which must be implemented within 30 days of the Act becoming law.

Mandatory Reporting and Transparency

To ensure accountability, the CARE Act introduces mandatory reporting requirements for employers. If a work-related serious injury, serious illness, or death occurs involving an employee under 18 employed in agriculture, the employer must report it to the Secretary of Labor within 5 days (SEC. 8). This report must include details about the incident, including environmental hazards like chemical exposure, the machinery used, and the work being performed. Failure to file this report carries its own civil penalty of between $500 and $7,000 per violation. Furthermore, the Secretary of Labor is now required to analyze this data and submit an annual, publicly available report to Congress detailing the status of child labor and related safety hazards in agriculture (SEC. 7). This shift from relying on voluntary reporting to mandatory, public data collection is a major step toward transparency and better enforcement.