Proposed Child Labor Laws

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oakview

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May 29, 2008
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Last night on Greta Van Sustern's show a guest said that this law would prohibit children under 18 from having contact with animals over 6 months of age?  So much for 4-H and junior livestock shows if this is true.  There was also the comment that kids would be banned from stacking hay on a hayrack because they might be over 6 feet from the ground.  He said the person behind the proposals was from Los Angeles, I believe.  Is there some way we could get more people from the coastal cities to run our lives?  Maybe the people that come up with these bright ideas should help bale hay some time or try some other type of manual labor so maybe they wouldn't have so much spare time to sit around and come up with ways to "help" us. 
 

breyfarm

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Oct 18, 2011
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OH
oakview said:
  Maybe the people that come up with these bright ideas should help bale hay some time or try some other type of manual labor so maybe they wouldn't have so much spare time to sit around and come up with ways to "help" us.   

Haha yea I totally agree, if anybody on here knows a government official they need to put a bug in their ear about this nonsense
 

iowabeef

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Aug 24, 2009
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Iowa
I wanted to do a little research to become a little more informed on the subject.  Messing with the farming way of life should not happen.  The work ethic instilled on family farms is not matched anywhere in society.  I found some information at the following link

http://www.anrcom.msu.edu/anrcom/news/item/proposed_rule_changes_to_federal_child_labor_laws_the_facts

Granted it was posted in October so might be a little dated as we all know how these government proposals are very fluid and change constantly.
We all need to become educated and make sure we know the specifics so we can fight this battle intelligently.  Be informed and be up to date as this will effect us all.
 

Will

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May 7, 2007
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Jay Ok
My nine year old came home really fired up and upset a couple weeks ago.  His teacher (who lives and works on a dairy) let them read a article in thier scholastic news.  I have not seen the article but I guess it rode the fence and pointed out how these new laws would save childrens lives.  When Ryan figured out he was not going to get to show or help on the farm he was very upset.  It upsets me that the government feels like it knows what is best for my family.  It also disapoints me that kids all across America read the scholastic news and get a distorted veiw of rural life.   
 

Stewart

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Sep 5, 2011
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Pacific Northwest
There goes the big city experts telling the rural community what is best.  The big cities are a complete joke and a drain on this country.  Why don't they focus on fixing their own pollution, crime rate, unemployment and lead by example. 

Who would you want to take into battle with you, a city kid or a farm/ranch kid?
 

RankeCattleCo

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Aug 16, 2011
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Southeastern Wisconsin
I rent 28 acres of hay from my dad that i fertilize, cut, rake, bale, and mow, all by myself, but I pay my brother to help bale and mow.  The couple grand I make off this goes towards my college fund. So now it is a crime for farm boys to put money away from college... My point may be a little extreme, but still...
 

MJCorlett

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Apr 18, 2012
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Wyoming
This country has become way too feminine.  I am not a feminist, can you tell?  I do believe in fair treatment, however.  Let's take a look at schools:  Has anyone noticed that they are mostly run by...females.  A females instinct is to protect (not new info here) - so from a very early age our kids are being overly protected and it continues through school age and onto whatever career he/she chooses (follow me there?).  Come on, let them run and scrape their knees. 
It has become a trend also to bring the balance of boy/girl to the middle - they are making girls out of our boys and our girls are becoming less feminine all of the time. 
I could go on, but I better stop... (argue) (argue) (argue) (argue)
Our nation doesn't work because we CAN"T make our kids work anymore all in the name of protection (plus a great deal more).  JMHO
Carry on.
 

Gargan

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Feb 24, 2011
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West Virginia
Its all about control. This admin doesnt like the concept of hard work paying off. They do not want kids working for extra money.  They wanna brainwash them from the git go that they need to let the BIG government take care of them. I truly believe this is where this country is heading without a change!!!   
 
C

cornish

Guest
so what?

Farm kids driving pickup trucks on public roads is illegal as well- but we all started in the 2nd grade...

Killing deer for your wife, grandpa, or kid's permits-- is illegal as well- but it happens each deer season.

Picking mushrooms on the neighbor's is illegal-- yet nobody can stop city people from coming and doing such.

Cross breeding livestock, and registering them as purebreds, or flat out changing parentage, or even better yet- recording your date of weaning as the birth date-- isn't right-- but it happens every day

 

MJCorlett

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Apr 18, 2012
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Wyoming
You are right Feed Grass, but IMO this can be monitored a little better, say at school when the kids have group counseling (yep, they do that).  Plus the county fairs will be null and void...so on and so forth.  We just have to take action NOW is all.  Most people in the ag industry are old school in that they aren't radicals - but we really need to play that game to ensure the kind of future we all strive for. 
When it comes to politics, I am in over my head, but just like everyone, I have an opinion and sometimes spout.  As stated earlier by iowabeef - we need to be informed!  And then take action.
 

KSUwildcat2009

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Mar 7, 2011
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So I must admit, I don't watch the news.  Not because I don't care, but the local news rarely has anything worthwhile, the major cable channels annoy me because on topics like such or BSE for example they are uniformed and I figure social media will tell me the important things.  Has there been progress/new forms of the DOL proposal?  And if yes, is it posted online somewhere?
 

sackshowcattle

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May 17, 2011
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colorado
It actually wouldn't be that hard to get big names backing you. you just have to pick the right cities, states and counties to contact. Get a hold of louisville, denver, houston, kansas city, and any other city with a national show and tell them and the state they are in what they are going to loose. counties with big fairs with concerts and rodeos let them know. Part of the issue od nwss moving is denver doesn't want to lose its 15 million projected incom for the month of january. Make them see how with not being handle larger animals no more jids learning to ride so they will lose rodeo and the stock shows. let cheyenne se they might lose fronteir days. show them the tax lost from hotels not being booked and restaurants that go broke cause a big part of their profit is from that month filled booths. the companies that wont have sales at booths at the shows. Show them the boost it gives to airlines and car rentals for big wigs and judges and everything else to fly in and drive around. Finally and most importantly show the loss to the kids. Show the way kids in 4-h and ffa excel later in life. Show the scholarships and money earned from livestock shows and these orginizations. How giving reasons in judging helps with public speaking and more professional welders and mechanics have come from ag class and farm kids then kids in welding and auto in high school. Show how livestock projects teach them about finance and record keeping.
 

ZNT

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Apr 25, 2007
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Rhome, TX
Here is some clarification on the proposed child labor rules.

Information from:
http://thegraph.com/2012/04/us-labor-department-is-not-banning-children-from-doing-farm-chores

(Updated to add the US Labor Dept.’s “Five Facts about the Proposed Child Labor in Agriculture Rule” section)

The conservative social web has been freaking out this morning over a story from the Daily Caller who reported:

Rural kids, parents angry about Labor Dept. rule banning farm chores

A proposal from the Obama administration to prevent children from doing farm chores has drawn plenty of criticism from rural-district members of Congress. But now it’s attracting barbs from farm kids themselves.

The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/25/rural-kids-parents-angry-about-labor-dept-rule-banning-farm-chores/
Twitchy even highlighted some of the knee-jerk reactionaries (I’m laughing with some of you) who took to Twitter to create the #ObamaFarmChores hashtag to mock the supposed impending doom of farm chores for boys and girls across America. Not that the kids would mind. Amiright?!

This Internet urban (or rural, in this case) myth is much ado about nothing. In the very US Labor Department proposal that the Daily Caller cited, the language is clear about this. From the 2nd paragraph of the US Labor Department proposal (my emphasis in bold):

The department is proposing updates based on the enforcement experiences of its Wage and Hour Division, recommendations made by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and a commitment to bring parity between the rules for young workers employed in agricultural jobs and the more stringent rules that apply to those employed in nonagricultural workplaces. The proposed regulations would not apply to children working on farms owned by their parents.
Also, getting everyone in a tizzy is the rumor that 4-H would be eliminated under this proposal. Not true. From the US Labor Department site:

Five Facts about the Proposed Child Labor in Agriculture Rule
Fact # 1: The proposed Child Labor in Agriculture rule will not prohibit all people under the age of 18 from working on a farm.

The proposed rule would not change any of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum age standards for agricultural employment. Under the FLSA, the legal age to be employed on a farm without restrictions is 16. The FLSA also allows children between the ages of 12 and 15 years, under certain conditions, to be employed outside of school hours to perform nonhazardous jobs on farms. Children under the age of 12 may be employed with parental permission on very small farms to perform nonhazardous jobs outside of school hours.

Young people can be employed to perform many jobs on the farm – and this would be true even if the proposed rule were adopted as written. The proposed rule would, however, prohibit the employment of workers under the age of 18 in nonagricultural occupations in the farm-product raw materials wholesale trade industries. Prohibited establishments would include country grain elevators, grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, feed yards, stockyard, livestock exchanges, and livestock auctions not on a farm or used solely by a single farmer. What these locations have in common is that many workers, including children, have suffered occupational deaths or serious injuries working in these facilities over the last few years.

Fact # 2: The proposed rule would not eliminate the parental exemption for owners/operators of a family farm.

The parental exemption for the owner or operator of a farm is statutory and cannot be eliminated through the regulatory process. A child of any age may perform any job, even hazardous work, at any age at any time on a farm owned by his or her parent. A child of any age whose parent operates a farm may also perform any task, even hazardous jobs, on that farm but only outside of school hours. So for children working on farms that are registered as LLCs, but operated solely by their parents, the parental exemption would still apply.

Fact # 3: This proposed regulation will not eliminate 4-H and FFA programs.

The Department of Labor fully supports the important contributions both 4-H and the FFA make toward developing our children. The proposed rule would in no way prohibit a child from raising or caring for an animal in a non-employment situation — even if the animal were housed on a working farm — as long as he or she is not hired or “employed” to work with the animal. In such a situation, the child is not acting as an “employee” and is not governed by the child labor regulations. And there is nothing in the proposed rule that would prevent a child from being employed to work with animals other than in those specific situations identified in the proposal as particularly hazardous.

Fact # 4: Under the proposed rule, children will still be able to help neighbors in need of help.

In order for the child labor provisions of the FLSA to apply, there must first be an employer/employee relationship. The lone act of helping a neighbor round up loose cattle who have broken out of their fencing, for example, generally would not establish an employer/employee relationship.

Fact # 5: Children will still be able to take animals to the county fair or to market.

A child who raises and cares for his or her animal — for example, as part of a 4-H project — is not being employed by anyone, and thus is outside the coverage of the FLSA. Even if the child needs to rent space from a farm, the animal is not part of the farm’s business and with regard to the care of the animal no employer/employee relationship exists, so the child labor provisions would not apply. Likewise, there would be no problem with taking the animal to the county fair or to market, since the child is doing this on his/her own behalf – not on behalf of an employer. The proposed prohibitions would apply only if the child was an employee of the exchange or auction.
There are some portions of this US Labor proposal that do need some attention, but not the one being widely misreported.

The lesson here: trust, but verify. Better we knock this down before the left pick up on this and mock you for a couple days with their own hashtag. We federalists are here for you, conservatives. We have your back, but work on the knee-jerk reactionary response thing that’s had a lot of you (especially the eunuchorns) under its spell lately. K?

 
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