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: Charles A. Krugel, Labor & Employment Law, HR Law

Will Higher Penalties Stop Child Labor? Guest Post from Kat Sanders

By charlesakrugel

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of court reporter training at her blog Court Reporter Schools. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com.

Will Higher Penalties Stop Child Labor?

It?s a given in life that once we become adults, we need to find ways to sustain ourselves. In short, we must earn a living if we are to support ourselves and our families. Work is important no doubt, but when said work becomes the cause for the truncation of childhood, we must examine why and how we have deteriorated to this stage.

Childhood is a time for fun, learning and exploration; not a period to be shackled down by the responsibilities of a job, often one that does not even pay well. And this is exactly why the North Carolina state senate has voted unanimously to increase fines and impose stiffer penalties on employers who break child labor and work safety laws in North Carolina.

According to the new rules, businesses that are first-time violators of the child labor law will now have to pay $500 as opposed to the earlier amount of $250, and repeat offenders will have to pay $1000 or more depending on the nature of the violation. Similarly, if it is proved that a worker under the age of 18 died on the job because of violations of safety laws, the penalty could go up to $20,000 for first time violators and as much as $40,000 for repeat violators.

Even though the amounts are much higher, is this enough of a deterrent to those who willfully break safety and child labor laws? While first time offenders may be wary of committing repeat offenses, the repeat offenders usually find ways and loopholes to continue doing as they please while turning a blind eye to the law.

Children are sought after in various industries because they do not cost as much for employers ? they can be paid half wages or less, especially if they belong to migrant workers or are illegal immigrants. The kids are also keen on earning some money to support their parents and large families, all of whom lead a hand to mouth existence.

Child labor will probably end only when the children are provided with an alternative to working for low wages, like an education that will guarantee them with proper careers and well-paying jobs.

Full post as published by Charles A. Krugel, Labor & Employment Law, HR Law on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).