It is a shocking discovery, made by the American labor inspectorate. In a statement released by the US Department of Labor this week, the administration said it discovered “two 10-year-old workers at a McDonald’s restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, following an investigation of three franchisees of the State.
The two children were employed, without being paid, “sometimes until 2 a.m.”, in multiple positions, including the preparation and distribution of orders or the cleaning of the restaurant, also specifies the document. In addition, “one of the two children was allowed to operate a fryer, a task prohibited for workers under 16”.
The presence of these two minors was not the only violation noted by the administration during this investigation among franchisees managing 62 McDonald’s restaurants in several states. 24 minors under the age of 16 worked “more than the legally authorized hours”, at one of the franchisees with ten McDonald’s restaurants, and, at another, 242 minors aged 14 to 16 were able to work “more than the authorized hours”, for example. Similarly, in the third, children were able to work “during school hours”, a violation of the regulations.
“These reports are unacceptable, deeply disturbing and go against the high expectations we have for the entire McDonald’s brand,” human resources boss and vice president at McDonald’s, Tiffanie Boyd, reacted on CNN. For his part, one of the franchisees told the American media that the two 10-year-old workers were the children of an employee who came to see their parent at his workplace, without having obtained the green light from management.
In total, the three franchisees allowed 305 minors to work more than the number of hours authorized, or to perform tasks prohibited to young workers, summarizes the press release. The employers were also fined $212,754 for violating child labor laws.
In the United States, teenagers can work from the age of 14, although their duties are regulated by law. Federal authorities are trying to clamp down on abuse: “We are seeing an increase in federal child labor violations, including allowing minors to operate equipment or conduct types of work that endanger or employ them for more hours or later in the day than the law allows”, is indignant, in the press release, Karen Garnett-Civils, in charge of these problems in Louisville.
