Articles

Representative Kristi Noem (R-SD) joined two of her colleagues on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor questioning the agency’s decision-making process as they revise labor regulations for youth hired as farm workers.  The letter specifically requests additional information to be sent to the committee, so Rep. Noem and others can better understand their reasoning for pushing for tougher new standards.

“South Dakota youth have worked on our farms for generations.  I am a strong supporter of safety protections for youth farm workers but we don’t need folks in Washington, who have never worked a day in their life on a farm, to set up new regulations that do nothing but burden South Dakota agricultural producers.  I look forward to hearing more from the Department of Labor on how and why are they are pushing for further regulation,” said Noem.

On September 2, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise labor regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for youth hired as farm workers.  Agriculture organizations, including the American Farm Bureau, are concerned by the apparent lack of evidence showing the need for this rulemaking and the relatively broad and ambiguous definitions used concerning work prohibited under the rulemaking.  On February 1, 2012, DOL announced its intention to withdraw and re-propose the parental exemption portion section of the NPRM.  Prior to the withdrawal, DOL faced intense criticism concerning this section, due to its apparently broad scope, which made family farmers concerned about young family members’ ability to freely help out around the farm. 

This oversight letter includes questions meant to get a better understanding of DOL’s basis (both legal and factual), process, and motivation for this rulemaking, its process for re-proposing the parental exemption, and its process for narrowing other seemingly broad definitions.