The Massachusetts Attorney General has fined Burger King franchise owners Northeast Foods LLC a total of $2 million for violating child labor laws. It turned out that the underage workers stayed on shifts for more than nine hours a day, which is the limit for 16- and 17-year-olds under state law.
Burger King franchise fined $2 million for excessive child labor
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News
Author: Ekaterina Alipova
The fine also includes compensation for unpaid wages and penalties, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office, to which refers Business Insider. During the investigation, it turned out that overtime was not paid, and the staff worked for the minimum wage or were generally forced to put up with delays in payments.
Prosecutors said they began the investigation after receiving a complaint from an employee at a Burger King restaurant about unpaid wages. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that almost 2 thousand employees of the network suffered from the alleged violations.
Representatives for Northeast Foods would not comment, and Burger King said the company “immediately contacted the franchisee <…> and they provided retraining for management personnel regarding the working time of minors, conducted an audit, and are also working on additional measures in accordance with the results of the investigation.”.
Analysts of the business publication note that in the United States there is an increase in the number of violations in the field of child labor. In 2024, the Ministry of Labor identified just over 4 thousand minors working in violation of the law. In 2023 there will be about 5.8 thousand such children, which is 88% more than in 2019.
Cover photo: Unsplash
Source: rb.ru
