Members of the Food Chain Workers Alliance protested child labor at Tyson Foods’ Springdale headquarters on October 16, 2023. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
The number of state-level child labor law violations in Arkansas rose 266%, from 460 to 1,685, between fiscal years 2020 and 2023, according to a report released Monday by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Additionally, the state Department of Labor and Licensing has opened fewer investigations into child labor violations since the beginning of August 2023, when an employment certificate for companies to hire children under 16 years of age was no longer required by law under the Youth Hiring Act .
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act:
- 14 years old is the minimum employment age for non-agricultural jobs.
- Youth under 18 cannot be employed in hazardous occupations.
- Children under 16 cannot work more than a certain number of hours per week.
- Children under 16 cannot work in manufacturing or mining or during school hours.