Late last year, 13 meatpacking plants in eight states that contracted with Packers Sanitation Services were hit with $1.5 million in federal fines for employing children in critical food safety jobs. , this story has not disappeared. The child labor trend in the food industry remains unbroken, and the industry is nearing the end of another year of racking up violations.
In light of the record influx of undocumented minors, parallel to the prevalence and sophistication of identity theft, the influential organization Meat Research Institute has developed an initiative to prevent child labor. Despite the promotion of best practices, child labor violations continue to occur in the food industry. And fraud.
Many children working in meat factories are tasked with food safety tasks such as cleaning dangerous equipment.
The latest violations involve 11 children working at a pork processing plant in Sioux City. Qvest LLC must pay $171,000 in federal penalties. A second contractor, Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC in Sioux City, is the second contractor in Iowa City to employ children in hazardous work.
The U.S. Department of Labor has discovered a second sanitation contractor at a Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC facility was employing children to perform hazardous work during night shifts at a pork processing plant in Sioux City.
under consent order and judgment The judgment, approved by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on November 27, 2024, requires Qvest LLC to pay $171,919 in civil penalties for child labor and hire third parties to violate child labor laws. Company policies to prevent the employment of children must be considered and implemented. Comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act and establish a process for reporting concerns about the illegal employment of children.
The verdict alleges that a sanitary contractor in Guymon, Oklahoma, accused 11 children of using a corrosive cleaner to clean Seaboard Triumph head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws, neck clippers and other equipment. The investigation was conducted by the Ministry’s Wage and Hour Division, which found that the company employed Food establishments from at least September 2019 through September 2023.
Seaboard Triumph Foods entered into a contract with Fayette Janitorial Services LLC in September 2023 for facility sanitation work. May 2024division Consent order and judgment entered. The meeting with Fayette came after department investigators discovered that a Somerville, Tenn., contractor was illegally employing nine children at a pork processing facility in Sioux City. After Fayette took over the plant’s sanitary services contract, Fayette rehired some of the children previously employed by Quest.
Federal law prohibits children under the age of 18 from being employed in common hazardous jobs such as meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering, and packing operations.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to eliminating the illegal employment of children in our nation’s workplaces,” said District Attorney Christine Z. Herri. “We are committed to using all strategies to stop illegal child labor and to hold all employers legally responsible for their actions. Children are dangerous and prohibited. You should never be hired for the job.”
In addition to paying fines for child labor violations, the consent order and judgment require Qvest to:
- Hire a third-party consultant or compliance expert with knowledge and experience in complying with FLSA child labor provisions within 90 days.
- Direct compliance monitors to immediately review company policies, conduct annual training at all company facilities, and monitor and audit Qvest’s compliance for at least three years.
- Provide child labor compliance training and materials in a language your employees understand.
- Maintain accurate records of all employees, including date of birth and job assignments.
- Establish a toll-free hotline to anonymously report child labor compliance concerns and receive guidance.
- Within 60 days, you certify that your company will not employ workers under the age of 18 to perform work prohibited by the FLSA.
- Submit an initial compliance report and three-year annual report to the department that verifies compliance with child labor laws.
“These findings demonstrate that Seaboard Triumph Foods has a history of illegally working children at its Sioux City facility since at least September 2019, despite changing sanitary contractors. , children continued to work in dangerous occupations at this facility,” said Michael Lazzeri, Midwest Wage and Hour Regional Administrator. .
In fiscal year 2024, the department completed 736 investigations uncovering child labor violations that affected 4,030 children. It imposed fines on employers of more than $15.1 million for violations. federal child labor laws89% increase since 2023.
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