FRANKFORT, Ky. — This is the time of year when tobacco farmers are getting their harvested crop ready for market, and most rely on outside help to get the job done.

Most of that labor comes from immigrant workers, but a report issued by the Human Rights Watch entitled Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming tells of young children working in tobacco fields in the four largest tobacco-producing states: Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

The report has some lawmakers scrambling to pass legislation that would prevent anyone under the age of 18 from working in tobacco. U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) has introduced legislation; H.R. 5327, the Child Tobacco Free bill.

“No child’s health should be at risk because of their work,” he said. “Working in tobacco fields can have harmful consequences on children, and it’s time child protection laws and regulations caught up with our values as a nation.”

Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) cosponsored the legislation and said the two will not rest until a favorable outcome is secured. “The Human Rights Watch report exposing the fact that children are working in these tobacco fields surrounded by toxic pesticides, which have been shown to cause cancer, depression, neurological deficits and reproductive health problems, is alarming,” he said.

Language in the bill is relatively short, compared to most contained in typical legislative summaries. The bill proposes to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 by adding: “Any employment in which children under the age of 18 come into direct contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves shall be considered particularly hazardous oppressive child labor within the meaning of this subsection.’’

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), for agricultural operations, the act prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. However, most of the operations associated with tobacco are not listed as being prohibited jobs.

When it comes to child labor restrictions, the DOL regulations are as follows: “Youths ages 16 and above may work in any farm job at any time; youths aged 14 and 15 may work outside school hours in jobs not declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor; youths 12 and 13 years of age may work outside of school hours in non-hazardous jobs on farms that also employ their parent(s) or with written parental consent.

“Youths under 12 years of age may work outside of school hours in non-hazardous jobs with parental consent, but only on farms where none of the employees are subject to the minimum wage requirements of the FLSA; local youths 10 and 11 may hand harvest short-season crops outside school hours for no more than eight weeks between June 1 and Oct. 15 if their employers have obtained special waivers from the Secretary of Labor; and youths of any age may work at any time in any job on a farm owned or operated by their parents.”

Margaret Wurth, the children’s rights researcher with the Human Rights Watch, said there has been support from both the House and Senate side to pass new regulations. She also said while the importance of family farming is understood, those children interviewed for the report were hired laborers on large commercial tobacco farms.

“We understand there are some differences and any policy change in the U.S. will probably reflect those differences,” she said.

“Human Rights Watch thinks that all kids under 18 should be protected from this work, but we understand there are differences in the type of work environments.”

Cicilline’s bill, which was introduced July 31, has been referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and is cosponsored by eight other legislators, none of whom are from major tobacco producing states.

For more information about child labor regulations, go to www.dol.gov/whd/ regs/compliance/whdfs40.htm