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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Two children aged TEN are discovered working unpaid shifts at Kentucky McDonald's, where one illegally used deep fryer and both prepared meals while serving customers |
| 2023-05-03 |
| [Daily Mail where America gets its news] Two 10-year-old children were found to have been working unpaid shifts at a Kentucky McDonald's, sometimes until 2am. The children, who have not been named, prepared and served meals at the Louisville McDonald's, worked the drive-thru and cash register and had to clean the floor. One was even allowed to work the deep fryer, a task that is considered illegal for anyone under the age of 16, as it involves 'dangerous equipment.' The two children are just some of 305 children under the age of 16 who the United States Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigators discovered were working illegally at McDonald's restaurants in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. It comes as businesses across the country have been turning to younger workers to cope with the labor shortage — with some states passing bills to ease child labor laws. According to the Department of Labor, 62 McDonald's restaurants were found to have violated child labor laws They are run by three franchises: Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richmond LLC and Bell Restaurant Group LLC, which were required to pay a total of $212,754 in fines. Officials say Bauer Foods, based in Louisville, employed 24 employees under the age of 16, including the two 10-year-olds who were hired back in August 2022. Those children worked 10 shifts between two to four hours per night, investigators told the Miami Herald. But under US law, the minimum working age is 14, but there are limits on working hours for those under 16 and prohibitions on hazardous jobs for anyone under 18. The franchise was fined $39,711 as a result of these violations. Meanwhile, Archways Richmond, based in Walton — about 80 miles northeast of Louisville, employed 242 14- and 15-year-olds who worked either too early or too late in the day. Investigators said the franchise sometimes had teenagers working over three hours on a school day. It was ordered to pay $143,566 in penalties as a result. And Bell Restaurant Group, based in Louisville with additional restaurants in Maryland and Indiana also had 14 and 15 years olds working too early or too late into the night, and longer than allowed under law. Fifty-eight of those teenagers were not paid overtime wages, federal officials say. It was ordered to pay $14,730 in back wages and liquidated damages to the workers. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #2 I suspect that the 10 year olds were. Getting paid under the table. I imagine that turning in payroll tax paperwork with SSNs that match ten year old kids was the same as an admission of guilt. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2023-05-03 20:42 |
| #1 "where one illegally used deep fryer" Laws are a joke. That's why my law is btwn me and G-d. It's a wonder how we manager to keep our hair clean considering that none of us are licensed to wash hair. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2023-05-03 12:56 |