BUTLER COUNTY – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), along with the entire Iowa congressional delegation, are urging the Department of Labor (DOL) to stop targeting Iowa small businesses and assist employers and families as they navigate teen labor law compliance. The lawmakers’ letter follows outreach from small business owners who have been subjected to aggressive DOL investigations, received demands for one-on-one, non-supervised interviews with teenage employees without parental consent, and threatened with excessive fines of up to $150,000.
“Small businesses are already hurting thanks to Bidenflation; the last thing they need is to be hit with a hefty DOL fine. DOL ought to improve their communication and lend a helping hand to employers as they study the laws on the books, so that Iowans can continue to pursue innovation and opportunity,” Grassley said.
“Many Iowa small business owners offer safe and stable work opportunities for teens that allow them to earn money while learning new skills and the importance of a strong work ethic,” Hinson said. “Rather than working with Iowa small businesses and providing guidance in good faith, the Biden DOL is rushing to immediately slap down hundred-thousand-dollar fines that could force some small businesses to close their doors. I am working to get answers and ensure Iowa’s small business community isn’t steamrolled by DOL bureaucrats.”
“We can all agree that the health, safety, and well-being of our youth is a high priority, but the U.S. Department of Labor’s position that a teenager working at a family-owned restaurant past 7pm on a school night qualifies as oppressive child labor is absurd,” Governor Kim Reynolds said. “The department is excessively fining small Iowa businesses to the point of closure for violating outdated child labor regulations that were set in the 1930s. Our workforce and workplaces look much different than they did 85 years ago, and Iowa’s child labor laws reflect that. It’s time the DOL update its own regulations to recognize the reality of our modern work world.”
