The U.S. Department of Labor fined a food safety sanitation service provider $1.5 million in civil money penalties after it was discovered the company employed at least 100 children in hazardous working conditions.
Packers Sanitation Services employed children aged from 13-17 years old in overnight shifts at 13 meat processing facilities in eight states. Children were found to be working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment.
The company was charged the maximum civil penalty allowed by federal law, $15,138 for each minor-aged employee.
“Our investigation found Packers Sanitation Services’ systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags. When the Wage and Hour Division arrived with warrants, the adults—who had recruited, hired and supervised these children—tried to derail our efforts to investigate their employment practices,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago, IL.
