New law adds teeth to child worker protection

DES MOINES - State labor officials and county attorney will have more tools to prosecute employers who fail to pay employees or violate child labor law under legislation signed by Gov. Chet Culver Wednesday.

House File 618, unanimously approved by the House and Senate, "will keep the workplace safe for children" and protect the rights of all workers, Culver said.

"This bill makes one point crystal clear: bad acts in the workplace have consequences in Iowa," Culver said. "Employers who illegally and unfairly exploit their workers have no place in Iowa."

The impetus for the bill came from employees at a Cedar Rapids hotel who complained they were not being paid and from an investigation into allegations of child labor violations at Agriprocessors in Postville.

It was the first time since 1974 the laws have been strengthened, according to state Labor Commissioner Dave Neil. The change will give his department more tools to prosecute violators. County attorneys sometimes were reluctant to prosecute wage payment and child labor violations, he said, but the tougher penalties through the administrative law judge process gives the labor department "a platform to stand on to make the case" for county attorney to prosecute, he said.

While violations are not numerous, Rep. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, said HF 618 "adds teeth to the law." County attorneys now can charge violators with simple misdemeanors. The bill allows them to file serious misdemeanor charges that could mean up to a year in jail, he said.

The bill gives Neil no more resources to go after employers. Enforcement is a complaint-driven process "and the public is very good about letting us know" when there is a problem."

Most groups following the bill were registered as "undecided." The Iowa Grocery Association, Iowa Nebraska Farm Equipment Dealer Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa opposed it.

• Create a maximum civil penalty for a child labor violation of $10,000. Currently there is not a civil penalty.

• Increase the civil penalty for failing to pay an employee's wages from $100 to $500 per pay period.

• Increase child labor criminal penalties from simple misdemeanors to serious misdemeanors, giving county attorneys more authority to pursue criminal prosecution of child labor violations.