Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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Children as young as 6 were found picking onions earlier this month in
Texas' Rio Grande Valley in violation of the federal child labor requirements
of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the U.S. Department of Labor announced
today.
The Department's Wage and Hour Division has assessed civil money
penalties totaling $34,200 against six growers as a result of finding nine farm
labor contractors illegally employing children in the fields during the first
two weekends in April. Four minors were 6 years old, six were 7 years old, two
were 8 years old, seven were 9 years old, five were 10 years old and eleven
were 11 years old. One 12-year-old was working without a parent or guardian
present.
"Young children should not be working in the fields even if they are
with a parent," said Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman. "Children should be
doing homework, not farm work. I am committed to ensuring that our children not
be exploited in any workplace. The Department of Labor will enforce the laws
and issue penalties when companies and contractors are found exploiting
children."
The children were working for farm labor contractors Oziel Reyes, Oscar
Reyes, Jose Carmen Gonzalez, Guillermo Diaz , Julia San Miguel, Sara Lopez,
Juanita Gonzales, Lee Bustos, and Jose Jesus Martinez. The contractors were
working for Starr Produce Company of Rio Grande City, Sharyland
Plantation of Mission, J.S. McManus Produce Co., Inc. of Weslaco,
B. Burns Farms of Faysville, Pemelton Farms of Mercedes, and Val
Verde Farms of McAllen.
The Wage and Hour Division found the companies jointly responsible for
the violations. All but one of the growers have paid the civil money penalties.
Starr paid $2,700, Sharyland Plantation $3,600, McManus $7,200, B. Burns Farms
$5,400, and Val Verde $6,300. The department is pursuing collection of $9,000
in civil money penalties from Pemelton Farms.
This was the second time in three weeks that the department found
children illegally employed in operations involving Sharyland Plantation. In
southern New Mexico, Sharyland Plantation was assessed a $900 penalty for a
child illegally employed to plant onions in late March.
In addition to paying the fines, four of the six growers (Sharyland
Plantation, B. Burns Farms, McManus and Val Verde) have signed agreements with
the U.S. Department of Labor stipulating they will comply with the minimum wage
and child labor provisions of the FLSA and will not ship produce harvested in
violation of the FLSA. The four growers have also agreed to institute
compliance programs that require them to:
- check for child labor compliance at least twice a day when crews are
planting or harvesting;
- prescreen farm labor contractors before entering into contractual
agreements;
- notify the Wage and Hour Division immediately upon a child labor
violation, and cooperate or take appropriate steps to remediate the violation;
- train their employees and farm labor contractors about the child
labor requirements before each planting or harvesting season; and,
- report semiannually to the Wage and Hour Division the results of
their monitoring activities.
A fifth grower, Starr Produce Company, had already implemented
significant compliance safeguards on its own and reaffirmed its commitment to
preventing the illegal employment of children.
"I am encouraged that Sharyland Plantation, B. Burns, McManus, and Val
Verde have agreed to take these steps to prevent the illegal employment of
minors in the future," said Secretary Herman. "I hope that the positive steps
taken by these growers will serve as a model for others. We are finding that
monitoring of contract shops by manufacturers in the garment industry is
helping to improve compliance in that industry. We hope to replicate that in
agriculture."
The FLSA generally prohibits the employment of minors under the age of
12 to work in agriculture. Minors, aged 14 and 15 may work outside school hours
in farm jobs not declared hazardous when they are employed on the same farms as
their parents or have written parental consent to work elsewhere.
These cases arise from an enforcement initiative that is part of the
Wage and Hour Division's targeted enforcement program in "salad bowl"
commodities including onions, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. As part
of this initiative, Wage and Hour will conduct more than 50 enforcement sweeps
nationwide this year in agriculture with a special emphasis on child labor
compliance.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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