A Tennessee-based sanitation company, Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, has been ordered to pay almost $650,000 in civil penalties after a federal investigation revealed it had hired at least two dozen children to clean dangerous meat processing facilities in Iowa and Virginia. The U.S. Department of Labor found that Fayette had illegally employed underage workers at Perdue Farms in Virginia and Seaboard Triumph Foods in Iowa, where the children were tasked with sanitizing hazardous equipment such as head splitters, jaw pullers, and meat bandsaws within the plants. One 14-year-old employee was severely injured while cleaning equipment at the plant in Virginia.
In February, the Labor Department accused Fayette of employing at least four minors at one Iowa slaughterhouse as of December 12, in violation of U.S. law that prohibits individuals under the age of 18 from working in meat processing plants due to safety risks. Fayette’s contracts with Perdue Farms and Seaboard Triumph Foods were terminated following the investigation. The company has since agreed to cease hiring minors and implement a third-party consultant to monitor compliance with child labor laws for a minimum of three years, as well as establish a hotline for reporting concerns about potential child labor abuses.
The Labor Department’s findings emphasize a disturbing trend of child labor violations in the United States, with recent incidents including the death of a 16-year-old worker at a Mississippi poultry plant, a fatal accident involving a 16-year-old at a sawmill in Wisconsin, and over 100 children found to be illegally employed by Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) at multiple meatpacking plants. PSSI paid over $1.5 million in civil penalties in response to these violations. The federal government is cracking down on companies that violate child labor laws and endanger young workers by exposing them to hazardous conditions in the workplace.
Fayette Janitorial Service LLC has claimed to have a zero-tolerance policy for minor labor and is cooperating with the federal investigation into their hiring practices. The agreement reached between Fayette and the Labor Department requires the company to take proactive steps to ensure compliance with child labor laws, including hiring a third-party monitor and providing training to employees. By establishing a hotline for reporting concerns, Fayette aims to address potential abuses in the future and prevent further violations of child labor laws in their operations.
With a sharp focus on protecting the safety and well-being of minors in the workforce, the federal government is advocating for stricter enforcement of child labor laws in response to the growing number of violations across various industries. The case of Fayette Janitorial Service LLC highlights the importance of ensuring that companies adhere to regulations that safeguard the rights of young workers and prevent them from being exposed to dangerous conditions. By holding employers accountable for illegal practices involving child labor, authorities can work towards creating a safer and more secure environment for all individuals in the workforce.
