DOL Issues Guidance On The Child Labor "Hot Goods" Prohibition

• Reiterating its commitment to combatting oppressive child labor, the DOL will "[use] all appropriate enforcement tools, including the hot goods provision of section 212(a)" to curtail child labor violations.
• The FLSA defines "hot goods" broadly to include any goods produced in or about an establishment in the United States where an oppressive child labor violation has occurred. Notably, a minor worker need not be actually engaging with the good for it to be deemed a "hot good."
• Companies are enjoined from shipping or otherwise facilitating the transfer of hot goods, and the prohibition applies to downstream purchasers.

On August 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2023-3 (FAB) to provide guidance to field staff on the prohibition against the shipment of "hot goods," found in Section 212(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),¹ and how the provision can be used as an enforcement tool for