[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR579.1]

[Page 350-351]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 579_CHILD LABOR VIOLATIONS_CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 579.1  What does this part cover?




Sec.
579.1 What does this part cover?
579.2 Definitions.
579.3 Violations for which penalty may be imposed.
579.4 [Reserved]
579.5 How is the amount of the penalty determined?
579.6-579.8 [Reserved]

    Authority: 29 U.S.C. 203, 211, 212, 216; Reorg. Plan No. 6 of 1950, 
64 Stat. 1263, 5 U.S.C. App.; secs. 25, 29, 88 Stat. 72, 76; Secretary 
of Labor's Order No. 4-2001, 66 FR 29656; Sec. 3103, Pub. L. 101-508; 
Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 890 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note), as amended by Pub. 
L. 104-134, section 31001(s), 110 Stat. 1321-358, 1321-373.


    (a) Section 16(e), added to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as 
amended, by the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974, and as further 
amended by the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1989 and the Omnibus 
Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, provides that--

    (1) Any person who violates the provisions of section 12, relating 
to child labor, or any regulation issued under that section shall be 
subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each employee 
who was the subject of such a violation.
    (2) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates section 6 or 7 
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $1,000 for each 
such violation.
    (3) In determining the amount of any penalty under this subsection, 
the appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the business of the 
person charged and the gravity of the violation shall be considered.
    (4) The amount of any penalty under this subsection, when finally 
determined, may be--
    (i) Deducted from any sums owing by the United States to the person 
charged;
    (ii) Recovered in a civil action brought by the Secretary in any 
court of competent jurisdiction, in which litigation the Secretary shall 
be represented by the Solicitor of Labor; or
    (iii) Ordered by the court, in an action brought for a violation of 
section 15(a)(4) or a repeated or willful violation of section 15(a)(2), 
to be paid to the Secretary.
    (5) Any administrative determination by the Secretary of the amount 
of any penalty under this subsection shall be final, unless within 
fifteen days after receipt of notice thereof by certified mail the 
person charged with the violation takes exception to the determination 
that the violations for which the penalty is imposed occurred, in which 
event final determination of the penalty shall be made in an 
administrative proceeding after opportunity for hearing in accordance 
with section 554 of title 5, United States Code, and regulations to be 
promulgated by the Secretary.
    (6) Except for civil penalties collected for violations of section 
12, sums collected as penalties pursuant to this section shall be 
applied toward reimbursement of the costs of determining the violations 
and assessing and collecting such penalties, in accordance with the 
provision of section 2 of an Act entitled ``An Act to authorize the 
Department of Labor to make special statistical studies upon payment of 
the cost thereof, and for other purposes'' (29 U.S.C. 9a).
    (7) Civil penalties collected for violations of section 12 shall be 
deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

    (b) The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 
(Pub. L. 101-410), as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 
1996 (Pub. L. 104-134, section 31001(s)), requires that Federal agencies 
periodically adjust their civil money penalties for inflation according 
to a specified cost-of-living formula. This law requires each agency to 
make an initial inflationary adjustment for all covered civil money 
penalties, and to make further inflationary adjustments at least once 
every four years thereafter. Any increase in the civil money penalty

[[Page 351]]

amount will apply only to violations that occur after the date the 
increase takes effect.
    (c) This part provides for the issuance of the notice of civil 
penalty for any violation of section 12 of the Act relating to child 
labor or any regulation issued under that section; describes the 
violations for which a penalty may be imposed and the factors to be 
considered by the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary's designated 
representative in assessing the amount of such a penalty; outlines the 
procedure for an exception to the determination that the violations 
occurred which may be filed by the person so charged; and summarizes the 
methods provided for collection and recovery of the penalty.

[40 FR 25792, June 18, 1975, as amended at 56 FR 8679, Feb. 28, 1991; 66 
FR 63503, Dec. 7, 2001]