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The Popeyes restaurant in Troy, Michigan, was cited after investigators determined the franchise violated child labor laws, the Department of Labor said.
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that a total of 63 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 15 were employed during school hours in violation of federal labor law. Employers who violate the law must pay $48,251 in fines for the violation, according to a news release.
“All too often, we see teenagers working hours that are not allowed under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Detroit Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell. “Child labor laws were enacted nearly a century ago to protect children. must be complied with.”
The Ministry of Labor announces that McDonald’s franchise stores employ young people as young as 10 without pay.
A sign outside a Popeyes restaurant in Chicago on May 6, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
According to the Department of Labor, teens employed at Troy Popeyes must not work more than 18 hours during school hours, work past 7 p.m. In the days leading up to that day, I would work past 9 p.m.
| ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QSR | Restaurant Brands International Co., Ltd. | 77.17 | +0.86 | +1.13% |
Federal law prohibits 14- and 15-year-old employees from working past 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day and from working past 7 p.m. any other time. . Additionally, a teenage worker cannot work more than 3 hours on school days, 8 hours on non-school days, or 18 hours in a week.
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Fast food workers protest at a closed Popeye’s in Oakland, California, on May 18, 2023. The restaurant was closed after child labor issues were reported. (Jane Tiska/Digital First Media/via East Bay Times/Getty Images)
Popeyes’ parent company, Restaurant Brands International, did not respond to a request for comment.
Last May, a Popeyes restaurant in Oakland, California, closed after teenage employees, including one 13-year-old, claimed they were asked to work during school hours and beyond legal limits, the Los Angeles Times reported. Reported.
The Ministry of Labor has recently been working to crack down on violations of child labor laws. In February 2023, the department established the Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation “to better coordinate federal efforts to protect children from exploitative workplace conditions,” the department said.
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August 30, 2019 at Popeyes Restaurant in Washington, DC. (Eric Baradat/via AFP/Getty Images)
According to the Department of Labor, federal data shows that between 2018 and 2022, the number of children illegally employed by U.S. companies increased by 69%. The problem is exacerbated by the influx of immigrant children who enter the United States illegally from Latin America, the majority of whom have no parents or guardians.
In fiscal year 2023, the department’s law enforcement agencies identified 955 child labor violations and fined employers more than $8 million, the department said.
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“We witness the scourge of child labor in this country every day, and we have a legal and moral obligation to do everything we can to stop it. By turning a blind eye, their own staffing companies or “their subcontractors and suppliers are to blame. Everyone is to blame here,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said last year.
“This is not a 19th century problem. This is today’s problem. Congress needs to be at the table, the states need to be at the table. This is a problem we all need to stop.”
