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New Connecticut Child Labor Laws

January 29th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

A new year brings new laws, including tougher new Connecticut child labor laws. These new child labor laws have teeth. According to experts, the new guidelines will better protect the state’s youth. This new legislation, which went into effect January 1, 2007, criminalizes child labor law violations by imposing up to five years’ in prison for each violation. In addition, violators face fines of fines of $2,000 to $5,000 for each offense. The civil penalties will double from $300 to $600 per violation.

According to Governor Rell, it’s high time for new Connecticut child labor laws. “This new legislation goes a long way toward protecting our young workers just entering employment,” Governor Rell said. “While we have an obligation to protect all workers, the safety of our children is paramount. For too long Connecticut’s child labor laws have not carried enough teeth.”

Federal and state child labor laws protect workers under the age of 18 from dangerous work. They also spell out what type of work minors may perform and what hours young people may work.

Governor Rell requested the tougher Connecticut child labor laws after Labor Department inspectors found 11 violations at Wal-Mart stores in Hartford, Norwalk and Putnam in 2005. The most serious situations occurred at the Putnam location, where three violations of minors using hazardous equipment were found. At the time, Governor Rell noted that a fine of just $300 for each violation was not a strong enough deterrent for a major corporation.

“Although the majority of Connecticut employers comply with our laws, it is of vital importance that we protect our youth in the workplace and legislation that I proposed earlier this year will put employers on notice that child labor laws need to be taken very seriously,” Governor Rell noted.

Unfortunately, under the old laws, some companies simply decided to break the law and pay the $300 if they were caught. Because there were no criminal charges involved, employers who violated the laws had no fear of jail or hefty fines.