Companies that do business with the federal government would have to disclose any child labor law violations from the past three years — and so would their subcontractors. Federal agencies would be blocked from awarding contracts to firms with uncorrected violations, and persistent offenders could be barred from federal contracting for at least four years. The bill also sharply raises the maximum civil penalties for child labor violations, moving the standard cap from $11,000 to $100,000 and the cap for repeat or willful violations from $50,000 to $500,000. Each year, the Labor Department would submit a public report to Congress listing flagged contractors and the corrective steps taken, and a GAO study would examine how widespread child labor violations are among federal contractors.
Transparency & Accountability
- Contractor compliance disclosures — Federal contractors must annually certify whether they have child labor violation history in the past three years
- Subcontractor disclosure chain — Certification requirements extend to subcontractors and service providers used in federal contracts
- Public contractor violation registry — Labor Department required to publish annual report listing noncompliant contractors and corrective actions taken
- GAO oversight — Comptroller General required to study child labor violation prevalence among federal contractors
Congressional Summary
Preventing Child Labor Exploitation in Federal Contracting ActThis bill prohibits federal agencies from awarding contracts to entities and offerors that (1) admit to having violated federal child labor laws, and (2) have failed to take corrective action. The bill also increases civil penalties for violations of specified child labor provisions.Under the bill, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council must amend regulations to requireany entity that enters into a contract with a federal agency to annually represent whether such entity has been determined to have violated federal child labor laws in the preceding three years, andany offeror, as well as each subcontractor or service provider to be used in performing the offeror's contract or considered for the performance of such contract, to certify whether it has been determined to have violated federal child labor laws in the preceding three years.Those who affirm they have violated child labor laws must update their representation or certification regarding any corrective measures they have taken. Federal agencies are prohibited from awarding contracts to entities or offerors (including applicable subcontractors or service providers) that affirm they have violated federal child labor law and that have failed to implement required corrective measures.The Department of Labor must annually prepare a list of entities, offerors, subcontractors, and service providers that are subject to this prohibition and conduct suspension and debarment proceedings against them. Federal agencies may not solicit offers, award contracts, or consent to subcontracts with those listed for at least four years.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-03-10
- Date Added
- 2026-06-13
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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