Sponsors (25)
Official title: To strengthen protections against child labor violations, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 18, 2026 by Rosa L. Delauro · Last progress June 18, 2026
The bill substantially strengthens child‑labor protections, enforcement, and transparency—improving safety and accountability in workplaces and federal supply chains—while imposing significant liability, compliance costs, and potential procurement and reputational risks for small businesses and contractors.
Children and adolescents (under 18, and especially under 16) are more protected because the bill bars minors from hazardous industries and from employment in federal contracting tiers, and prohibits oppressive child labor for 16–17 year‑olds.
Children and families benefit from stronger enforcement and deterrence because the law expands investigatory tools, stop‑work orders (with required pay), higher civil penalties, and successor‑liability rules that make it harder for employers to evade responsibility.
Taxpayers and government contracting stakeholders gain better compliance controls because contractors must train subcontractors/suppliers, create labor‑management committees, and the government can cancel and reprocure contracts tainted by violations.
Small suppliers and contractors face substantial financial risk because very high civil penalties and expanded liability (per‑employee fines and large penalties for death/serious injury) could bankrupt small firms and chill hiring or contracting.
Broad secondary, successor, and joint‑and‑several liability (plus multi‑year debarment/blacklisting) may deter acquisitions, mergers, and ordinary contracting activity because buyers/acquirers can inherit large penalties or long reputational sanctions.
Smaller subcontractors and suppliers will incur higher compliance costs because required training, assurances, labor‑management committees, and documentation increase administrative burdens and may raise contract prices.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Tightens FLSA child-labor rules, bans under-18 work in listed hazardous industries, expands enforcement tools and supply-chain liability, and requires annual injury/enforcement reporting.
Strengthens federal child-labor rules by banning employment of children under 18 in specified hazardous industries, expanding the definition of "oppressive child labor," and giving the Secretary of Labor new enforcement tools including stop-work orders, extended hot-goods authority, and tagging of unlawfully manufactured goods. The bill also extends age-based prohibitions into federal contracting supply chains, creates a seller/contractor safe-harbor framework, and requires the Department of Labor to collect and annually report work-related injury and enforcement data. The law directs the Secretary to issue regulations within 180 days and to review hazardous-occupation designations at least every five years, increases investigatory authority, and makes successors in interest jointly liable in many circumstances. It aims to close supply-chain gaps, increase penalties and remedies, and improve data-driven oversight of child-labor risks and enforcement trends.