State labor officials are failing to complete most child labor investigations in New York City within a reasonable timeframe — and in some cases are letting them drag on for more than a year, according to a new audit by the state comptroller.
The audit comes amid a national increase in child labor exploitation cases that predates the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials found state Department of Labor investigators did not meet the standard three-month timeline in nearly two-thirds of the 87 cases the comptroller’s office reviewed, including 36 cases that took more than a year to complete or were still actively being investigated.
The comptroller’s office also found the department lacks a process for identifying which child labor cases involve hazardous conditions, such as dangerous chemicals or equipment. Under state guidelines those investigations are supposed to be completed within a week, but none were marked as such in the state’s case management system for child labor cases, according to the audit.
When asked why, the labor department told the comptroller’s office their system “does not have the functionality … to identify hazardous employment cases in a systematic manner” and the division that handles child labor cases does not “manually identify hazardous employment cases,” the audit states.
“This is a major shortfall and a missed opportunity for the Division not only to identify employers in violation but also to act quickly on behalf of minors who are exposed to hazardous conditions,” the comptroller’s office wrote.
Reid Maki, director of child labor advocacy and coordinator of the D.C.-based National Consumers League’s Child Labor Coalition, said officials have to do better.
“These rules are there to protect kids and prevent injury and educational damage,” he said. “We really can’t take them lightly. They took a long time to get in place — took decades, sometimes centuries, to bring about — and we can’t just throw them…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply