A pair of 10-year-old children working unpaid are among the violations discovered at a Louisville Mcdonald’s, according to a Department of Labor investigation.
Those kids were among 305 children found to be working longer than legally permitted for 62 McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, the department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators said. The minors were also performing work tasks prohibited by law for young workers.
The two 10-year-olds were working as late as 2 a.m.
The restaurants were owned by three different operators: Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC.
“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” DoL Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville said. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers.”
The investigation led to a total of 212,754 in civil penalties.
“We are seeing an increase in federal child labor violations, including allowing minors to operate equipment or handle types of work that endangers them or employs them for more hours or later in the day than federal law allows,” Garnett-Civils said. “An employer who hires young workers must know the rules. An employer, parent or young worker with questions can contact us for help understanding their obligations and rights under the law.”
Under federal law, minor workers can only legally work outside of school hours. They can only work for up to three hours on school days and up to eight hours on non-school days, no more than 18 hours during a school week and no more than 40 hours during a non school week. Minor workers can only work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except between June 1 and Labor Day when the evening hours are extended to 9 p.m.
Other McDonald’s franchisees have been fined by the Department of Labor for overworking its minor workers.
“One child injured at work is one too many. Child labor laws exist to ensure that when young people work, the job does not jeopardize their health, well-being or education,” Garnett-Civils said.