A US department of labor investigation uncovered child labor violations at three McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, which included finding two 10-year-olds working unpaid, sometimes until 2am.
The three McDonald’s franchisees cited in the investigation own a total of 62 locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, and were found to employ 305 children working more than legally permitted hours and performing job tasks prohibited by law for their age.
Civil penalties totaling $212,754 were issued against the franchisees for the violations.
The franchisees include Bauer Food, based in Louisville; Archways Richwood, based in Walton, Kentucky; and Bell Restaurant Group, also based in Louisville. About 93% of McDonald’s locations worldwide are operated by franchisees.
The investigation found the franchisees employed 14- and 15-year-olds who were working outside of and over the number of hours minors are permitted to work, and exceeding the daily and weekly limits – including cases where the workers were on the job during school hours.
The news comes as states across the US have moved to relax child labor laws.
Karen Garnett-Civils of the labor department said: “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.
“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.”
The child labor violations are the latest among several recent cases involving McDonald’s franchises.
In February, the labor department fined a franchise operator of seven McDonald’s restaurants in the Pennsylvania towns of Erie and Warren for illegally allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to work at times and over hours not permitted by federal child labor laws, and cases of assigning nine workers under the age of 16 to operate deep fryers.
The violations affected 154 minor employees at the restaurants and led to a fine of $92,107.
Another Pennsylvania-based McDonald’s franchisee, the owner of 13 locations in the Pittsburgh area, was fined in December for child labor violations covering 101 minor workers. The violations include allowing the children to work later than 9pm, more than eight hours on school days, more than 18 hours during school weeks, and more than three hours a day and after 7pm on school days. A civil penalty of $57,332 was assessed for those violations.
In June last year, a McDonald’s franchisee in Tennessee was fined $3,258 for illegally assigning a 15-year-old worker to use a deep fryer, considered a hazardous job task not permitted for minors. The child suffered a burn while doing so.
