Labrador introduces bill permitting minor children to work in family logging businesses

March 14, 2015

If your children are working with you in a family-owned logging business, you may technically be violating federal law. That situation may be remedied, however, under legislation proposed by Idaho Congressman Raúl Labrador. Mr. Labrador introduced a bill in Congress last week that would allow family-owned timber harvesters to train the next generation in one of Idaho’s most important natural resource industries. Mr. Labrador's proposed legislation, H.R. 1215, known as the Future Logging Careers Act, would extend an exemption already applied to agriculture and allow 16- and 17-year-old children to work for their parents in the woods. According to Mr. Labrador, timber harvesting, like farming and ranching, is often a family business where the practice of felling and transporting timber from the forest to the mill passes from generation to generation. He believes the exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act for agriculture be applied also to the timber industry. "I first got the idea for this bill after meeting with two Idaho loggers from third-generation logging families, Tim Christopherson of Kamiah and Mark Mahon of Council. They worked in their family operations as teenagers," said Congressman Labrador. Christopherson started before he turned 18, thinking the ag exemption applied to logging. “If I hadn’t been able to work in the woods when I was young, I wouldn’t have chosen this career,” said Christopherson, whose family-owned DABCO Inc. employs 18 workers. Two years ago, Mahon’s son, J.T., was working for the family-owned Tom Mahon Logging when a U.S. Forest Service employee sent him home because of the lack of an exemption. J.T. plays football, basketball and runs track for the Council High School Lumberjacks. "He’s in better physical shape than I am,” said Mark Mahon, vice president of the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho. “Working for their families provides a path for young people to get a taste of the industry. Once you get that in your blood, it’s kind of hard to get it out.” Tom Mahon Logging was started by J.T.’s great-grandfather, Joseph. Tom Mahon, 71, still works for the company, along with a second son, Joe. The company employs 12 people in Adams County, where unemployment reached 16 percent during the Great Recession. Mr. Labrador's Future Logging Careers Act is endorsed by the American Loggers Council, which represents harvesters in 30 states. “We strive to operate safely and want to be able to pass along this generation’s skills in professional harvesting to our next generation,” said Shawn Keough, executive director of the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho, and who also serves as an Idaho State Senator. “This bill will allow us to train those who wish to follow in their family’s proud tradition. We applaud Congressman Labrador for his leadership.” The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in mechanized logging operations under parental supervision. The proposed legislation has nine original cosponsors from eight states, including Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. This week, Idaho GOP Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo introduced a companion bill in the Senate, S. 694.