Nimble fingers: Congress wants to exempt the Amish from child labor laws. Why not everyone else?

• Author: Lynch, Michael W.
• Position: Editorial

Last month a waist-high waitress, who looked no older than 10, served my buddy his grilled chicken sandwich as we lunched less than a block away from the White House. As she shoulder-pressed the plate onto our table, the three of us dining blurted out simultaneously: child labor violation! We considered turning in the establishment but concluded that it must be a school holiday and at least one of her parents must own or work at the restaurant. At any rate, we said as we dug into our food, it's good for her.

Such scenes are common in areas with lots of small, family-owned businesses. I used to see my classmate, Sandy Kwong, doing her homework behind the cash register at her parents' Chinese restaurant. She was one of our class's top performers in the six years we shared elementary school teachers, so I know the interruptions to cash out tabs and count change didn't hold her back. When I worked in San Francisco, tender little hands would often take my legal tender in the afternoons at a deli near my office. Many teens, and even pre-teens, labor in the child-care industry as neighborhood babysitters. Others raise cash by mowing lawns, trimming hedges, and pulling weeds.

Are any of these common scenes also crime scenes? Most likely. Under rules spawned by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, it's illegal for children under 14 to work in any commercial establishment. Adolescents can start working legally at 14, in limited jobs for limited hours. At 16, the hours increase and job options expand, but even 16- and 17-year-olds are restricted from working in 17 industries deemed hazardous by the U.S. Department of Labor.

If a child's mother or father - an aunt or uncle won't do - is the business' sole owner (not a partner or major investor) then the child may work, so long as it's not considered a hazardous or manufacturing occupation. My classmate Sandy was legal, and the young Washington waitress may be legal, if a parent owns the restaurant. Babysitting is legal so long as kids keep it under 20 hours a week and don't work for a company. It's illegal for individuals not yet 16 to operate just about any powerdriven machinery, but the DOL turns a blind eye to kids who work for themselves. The lawn mowers therefore are violating the law only if they work for a landscaping company and pay taxes. Some of the provisions are mind-boggling. One has to be 18 years old to drill a hole in a piece of wood. But aiming the drill bit at a piece of drywall is...