A comparison of the child labor provisions with the so-called wage
and hours provisions contained in the Act discloses some important
distinctions which should be mentioned.
(a) The child labor provisions contain no requirements in regard to
wages. The wage and hours provisions, on the other hand, provide for
minimum rates of pay for straight time and overtime pay at a rate not
less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for overtime
hours worked. Except as provided in certain exemptions contained in the
Act, these rates are required to be paid all employees subject to the
wage and hours provisions, regardless of their age or sex. The fact
therefore, that the employment of a particular child is prohibited by
the child labor provisions or that certain shipments or deliveries may
be proscribed on account of such employment, does not relieve the
employer of the duties imposed by the wage and hours provisions to
compensate the child in accordance with those requirements.
(b) There are important differences between the child labor
provisions and the wage and hours provisions with respect to their
general coverage. As pointed out in Sec. 570.114, two separate and
basically different coverage provisions are contained in section 12
relating to child labor. One of these provisions (section 12(c)), which
applies to the employment by an employer of oppressive child labor in
commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, is similar to the
wage and hours coverage provisions, which include employees engaged in
commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or employed in
enterprises having employees so engaged. The other provision (section
12(a)), however, differs fundamentally in its basic concepts of coverage
from the wage and hours provisions, as will be explained in
Secs. 570.104 to 570.111.
(c) Another distinction is that the exemptions provided by the Act
from the minimum wage and/or overtime provisions are more numerous and
differ from the exemptions granted from the child labor provisions.
There are only four specific child labor exemptions of which only one
applies to the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements as well. This
is the exemption for employees engaged in the delivery of newspapers to
the consumer. 3 With this exception, none of the specific
exemptions from the minimum wage and/or overtime pay requirements
applies to the child labor provisions. However, it should be noted that
the exclusion of certain employers by section 3(d) 4 of the
Act applies to the child labor provisions as well as the wage and hours
provisions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Section 13(d) of the Act.
4 Section 13(d) defines ``employer'' to include ``any
person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in
relation to an employee but shall not include the United States or any
State or political subdivision of a State, or any labor organization
(other than when acting as an employer), or anyone acting in the
capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[16 FR 7008, July 20, 1951. Redesignated at 28 FR 1634, Feb. 21, 1963.
Redesignated and amended at 36 FR 25156, Dec. 29, 1971]
