Report: 2023 Arkansas child labor law could lead to fewer investigations
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
A 2023 bill signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders may lead to a decrease in the number of employers investigated for violations of child labor, a report out Monday warns.
Why it matters: The number of child labor violations in Arkansas soared 266% — from 460 to 1,685 — between two different two-year periods (fiscal 2020-2021 and fiscal 2022-2023), according to the report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF).
- The number of cases, violations, minors involved and penalties assessed on employers all trended up in the state between 2001 and 2022, Pete Gess, economic policy director for AACF, found.
State of play: Arkansas' Youth Hiring Act of 2023 eliminated a long-standing requirement that children under age 16 obtain a certificate signed by their parent or guardian allowing them to work.
- Sanders' spokesperson at the time said the permit was an "arbitrary burden on parents."
Stunning stat: 85% of cases that had certificate violations also had other child labor violations, like having minors work more hours than allowed by law, the report says.
- "Given that state employment certificate mandates result in 43.4% fewer minors involved in labor violations nationwide, it was shortsighted for the Arkansas Legislature to remove this important policy tool in 2023," the report states.
- Since the law was signed near the end of fiscal 2023, there's not much comparable data on its impact.
Context: Gess notes that Act 687, also passed by state lawmakers in 2023, increased civil penalties for child labor violations from $1,000 to $5,000 and made willful violation of the law a crime, strengthening the state's stance.
The big picture: A 2023 investigation by The New York Times Magazine renewed interest in child labor practices across the U.S., alleging that contractors employed by Tyson Foods and Perdue Foods to clean meatpacking plants overnight used migrant child workers.
- Locally, the U.S. Department of Labor in October said it is investigating claims of underage workers at Tyson facilities in Rogers and Green Forest.
What they're saying: "In the year since the [Youth Hiring Act of 2023], we have seen a big decrease in the number of child labor investigations by the state of Arkansas. The removal of the employment certificate mandate may at least partially explain this," Gess said in an email.
- The certificates were an important touch point for minors, their parents and employers he said in a Zoom call with stakeholders. The document, essentially a permission slip for parents to sign, helped them all be on the same page about working hours and days.
The other side: A spokesperson for Sanders didn't immediately provide a comment.
What they recommend: The report recommends several child protection policies including reinstating employment certificates for minors, allowing a private party to file a civil suit against an employer who violates the standards and preventing violators from receiving state and local government contracts.