CARE Act of 2023

The CARE Act of 2023 strengthens protections for child farmworkers by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act. It raises minimum age requirements (restricting 14-15 year olds to family farms outside school hours, and limiting 16-17 year olds to family farm work outside school hours), repeals a waiver allowing children in hand-harvest labor, and increases penalties for violations (up to $60,115 for serious injury or death). The bill requires employers to report work-related injuries or deaths of child farmworkers under 18 and mandates annual reports to Congress on child farmworker safety data. It also prohibits children under 18 from working as pesticide handlers, directly affecting an estimated 100,000+ child farmworkers in the U.S.