Hunter
05/08/24
A sanitation company has been fined nearly $650,000 after it was found they were employing children to clean dangerous meat processing facilities in Iowa and Virginia.
According to a release from the US Department of Labor, Fayette Janitorial Service of Somerville Tennessee employed at least 24 children, some as young as 13 years old, on overnight sanitation shifts at Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC in Sioux City and Perdue Farms in Accomac, Virginia.
At the Seaboard Triumph facility, federal investigators witnessed children concealing their faces and carrying glittered school backpacks before starting their overnight shift and learned children were assigned on overnight shifts to use corrosive cleaners to clean dangerous kill floor equipment, including head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws and neck clippers.
Both companies say they’ve terminated their contracts with Fayette.
In addition to the penalties for the child labor violations, the consent order and judgement requires Fayette Industrial to hire a third-party consultant or compliance specialist with knowledge and experience in complying with the FLSA’s child labor provisions within 90 days.
They ‘re also required to maintain accurate records of all employees, including date of birth and work tasks assigned.
The US Department of Labor says that during the last fiscal year, department investigators found more than 5,800 children had been employed in violation of federal child labor laws