(a) Section 12(a) excludes from the channels of interstate commerce goods produced in an establishment “in or about” which oppressive child labor has been employed. In a great many situations it is obviously easy to determine whether a minor is employed “in” an establishment. Thus, he is so employed where he performs his occupational duties on the premises of the producing establishment. Furthermore, a minor is also considered as employed in an establishment where he performs most of his duties off the premises but is regularly required to perform certain occupational duties in the establishment, such as loading or unloading a truck, checking in or out, or washing windows. This is true in such cases even though the minor is employed by someone other than the owner or operator of the particular establishment. On the other hand, a minor is not considered to be employed in an establishment other than his employer's merely because such establishment is visited by him for brief periods of time and for the sole purpose of picking up or delivering a message or other small article.

(b) If, in the light of the statements in paragraph (a) of this section, the minor cannot be considered as employed in the establishment, he may, nevertherless, be employed “about” it if he performs his occupational duties sufficiently close in proximity to the actual place of production to fall within the commonly understood meaning of the term “about.” This would be true in a situation where the foregoing proximity test is met and the occupation of the minor is directly related to the activities carried on in the producing establishment, in this connection, occupations are considered sufficiently related to the activities carried on in the producing establishment to meet the second test above at least where the requisite relationship to production of goods exists within the meaning of section 3(j) of the Act.^[20] By way of example, a driver's helper employed to assist in the distribution of the products of a bottling company who regularly boards the delivery truck immediately outside the premises of the bottling plant is considered employed “in or about” such establishment, without regard to whether he ever enters the plant itself. On the other hand, employees working entirely within one establishment are not considered to be employed “in or about” a wholly different establishment occupying separate premises and operated by another employer. This would be true even though the two establishments are contiguous. But in other situations the distance between the producing establishment and the minor's place of employment may be a decisive factor. Thus, a minor employed in clearing rights-of-way for power lines many miles away from the power plant cannot well be said to be employed “in or about” such establishment. In view of the great variety of establishments and employments, however, no hard and fast rule can be laid down which will once and for all distinguish between employments that are “about” an establishment and those that are not. Therefore, each case must be determined on its own merits. In determining whether a particular employment is “about” an establishment, consideration of the following factors should prove helpful: