McDonald’s franchises fined for baby labor violations
By Associated Press: Two 10-year-olds are amongst 300 children who labored at McDonald’s consuming locations illegally, a Labor Department investigation of franchisees in Kentucky found.
Agency investigators found the 10-year-olds obtained little or no pay at a McDonald’s in Louisville, the Labor Department said. The franchisee for the Louisville retailer was amongst three McDonald’s franchisees fined $212,000 in full by the division.
Louisville’s Bauer Food LLC, which operates 10 McDonald’s locations, employed 24 minors beneath the age of 16 to work further hours than legally permitted, the corporate said. Among these had been two 10-year-old children. The firm said the youngsters sometimes labored as late as 2 a.m., nevertheless weren’t paid.
“Below the minimum age for employment, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” the Labor Department said Tuesday, together with that one baby moreover was allowed to perform a deep fryer, which is prohibited exercise for workers beneath 16.
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Franchise owner-operator Sean Bauer said the two 10-year-olds cited inside the Labor Department’s assertion had been visiting their dad or mum, a night supervisor, and weren’t staff.
“Any ‘work’ was done at the direction of — and in the presence of — the parent without authorization by franchisee organization management or leadership,” Bauer said Wednesday in a prepared assertion, together with that they’ve since reiterated the child visitation protection to staff.
Federal baby labor guidelines put strict limits on the sorts of jobs children can perform and the hours they will work.
The Kentucky investigations are part of an ongoing effort by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to stop baby labor abuses inside the Southeast.
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“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” said division Director Karen Garnett-Civils. “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.”
In addition, Walton-based Archways Richwood LLC and Louisville-based Bell Restaurant Group I LLC allowed minors ages 14 and 15 to work previous allowable hours, the division said. Archway Richwood didn’t immediately return a reputation looking for comment and Brdancat Management Inc., which Bell Restaurant Group is part of, declined comment.
“These reports are unacceptable, deeply troubling and run afoul of the high expectations we have for the entire McDonald’s brand,” McDonald’s USA spokeswoman Tiffanie Boyd said. “We are committed to ensuring our franchisees have the resources they need to foster safe workplaces for all employees and maintain compliance with all labor laws.”
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