McDonald’s franchisees fined for child labor violations

Three McDonald’s franchisees in Kentucky have been fined after an investigation by the Department of Labor determined that they employed more than 300 children who worked longer hours than the law permits, among other violations.

One franchisee had two 10-year-olds working at its locations, without pay, as late as 2 a.m., with one operating a deep fryer, a task forbidden by children under 16, according to the Labor Department.

The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division investigated Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC–three separate franchisees that operate a total of 62 McDonald’s locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. In all, the investigations led to assessments of $212,544 in civil penalties against the employers.

Bauer Food, which operates 10 locations in Louisville, was fined nearly $40,000 for violations including employing the 10-year-olds, who “prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” according to the department.

“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,” said wage and hour division district director Karen Garnett-Civils in a news release.

Franchise owner-operator Sean Bauer said the two 10-year-olds cited in the Labor Department’s statement were visiting their parent, a night manager, and weren’t employees.

“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 written statement, adding that they’ve since reiterated the child visitation policy to employees.

The crackdown happened after the government investigated fast-food employment practices in the southeast with an eye on teenage—and younger—workers. “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.

The department also fined Archways Richwood, a Walton-based operator of 27 McDonald’s locations, $143,566 for allowing 242 minors between age 14 and 15 to work beyond legal limits.

And it levied a fine of $29,267 on Bell Restaurant Group I in Louisville for allowing 39 14- and 15-year olds at four locations to work longer than allowed, including allowing two of them to work during school hours.

Efforts to reach the three franchisees for comment were not immediately successful.

The news release noted that the wage division last year found 688 minors employed illegally in hazardous jobs, the highest number since 2011. Those included a 15-year-old who suffered from hot-oil burns while manning a deep fryer at a McDonald’s in Morristown, Tenn.

The government’s moves come as multiple states are rolling back child-labor laws as part of a push by conservative groups. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March enacted legislation eliminating regulations requiring 14- and 15-year-olds to obtain work permits before taking on paid jobs. A bill in Ohio would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. during the school year, later than allowed under federal laws. And in Minnesota and Iowa, bills relaxing child-labor laws are advancing.

The Biden administration in February announced an initiative focused on child labor, targeting industries that employ low-wage and migrant workers who are more frequently exploited. Increasing cases of child-labor-law violations have been fueled by a tight labor market and a higher-than-usual number of children arriving from Latin America without parents, according to experts.