Hundreds of Children Found Working at McDonald's Restaurants Across Several States
Most of the restaurants were located in Kentucky
By Logan Reardon • Published 50 mins ago •
Sixty-two McDonald's restaurants were found to be in violation of federal labor laws, the U.S. Department of Labor revealed on Wednesday.
Over 300 children were found working at the restaurants across several states, with 45 of the 62 McDonald's restaurants located in Kentucky.
At one store in Louisville operated by Bauer Food LLC, two 10-year-olds were found to be working unpaid and as late as 2 a.m., the department said. The two children had a variety of responsibilities, including preparing and distributing orders, cleaning the store, working at the drive-thru window and operating cash registers. The department found that one of them was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited under federal law for workers under 16 years old.
Over 300 children under the age of 16 – two that were only 10-years-old – were found working beyond federal child labor limits in 62 McDonald's locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland, according to the Department of Labor.
Click on each location below for more information.
Data: Department of Labor
Bauer Food LLC responded by saying the 10-year-olds were children of a night manager and they were just visiting their parent at work, all while not being approved by franchisee organization management.
The Labor Department's investigation found that at least 305 children were employed in violation of federal labor laws across McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. Three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — own and operate the 62 locations found to be in violation.
Now, the three franchises face civil money penalties with an estimated combined total of more than $212,000.
Archways Richwood LLC will face the biggest penalty, an estimated $143,566 in civil money penalties, after it was found that 242 children between the ages of 14 and 15 worked beyond allowable hours at their locations.
You can read the full report from the U.S. Department of Labor here.
Most of the restaurants were located in Kentucky
By Logan Reardon • Published 50 mins ago •
Sixty-two McDonald's restaurants were found to be in violation of federal labor laws, the U.S. Department of Labor revealed on Wednesday.
Over 300 children were found working at the restaurants across several states, with 45 of the 62 McDonald's restaurants located in Kentucky.
At one store in Louisville operated by Bauer Food LLC, two 10-year-olds were found to be working unpaid and as late as 2 a.m., the department said. The two children had a variety of responsibilities, including preparing and distributing orders, cleaning the store, working at the drive-thru window and operating cash registers. The department found that one of them was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited under federal law for workers under 16 years old.
Over 300 children under the age of 16 – two that were only 10-years-old – were found working beyond federal child labor limits in 62 McDonald's locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland, according to the Department of Labor.
Click on each location below for more information.
Data: Department of Labor
Bauer Food LLC responded by saying the 10-year-olds were children of a night manager and they were just visiting their parent at work, all while not being approved by franchisee organization management.
The Labor Department's investigation found that at least 305 children were employed in violation of federal labor laws across McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. Three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — own and operate the 62 locations found to be in violation.
Now, the three franchises face civil money penalties with an estimated combined total of more than $212,000.
Archways Richwood LLC will face the biggest penalty, an estimated $143,566 in civil money penalties, after it was found that 242 children between the ages of 14 and 15 worked beyond allowable hours at their locations.
You can read the full report from the U.S. Department of Labor here.
Federal investigators found more than 300 minors, including the 10-year-olds, were working illegally, the Labor Department said in a statement Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two 10-year-olds are among the 300 children who worked at a McDonald’s restaurants illegally, a Labor Department investigation of franchisees in Louisville, Kentucky, found.
Agency investigators found the 10-year-olds who received little or no pay, the Labor Department said. The franchisees were fined $212,000 in total.
Louisville’s Bauer Food LLC, which operates 10 McDonald’s locations, employed 24 minors under the age of 16 to work more hours than legally permitted, the agency said. Among those were two 10-year-old children. The agency said the children sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m., but were not paid.
“Below the minimum age for employment, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” the Labor Department said Tuesday, adding that one child also was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited task for workers under 16.
Franchise owner-operator Sean Bauer said the two 10-year-olds cited in the Labor Department’s statement were visiting their parent, a night manager, and weren’t employees.
“Any ‘work’ was done at the direction of — and in the presence of — the parent without authorization by franchisee organization management or leadership,” Bauer said Wednesday in a prepared statement, adding that they’ve since reiterated the child visitation policy to employees.
Federal child labor regulations put strict limits on the types of jobs children can perform and the hours they can work.
The Kentucky investigations are part of an ongoing effort by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to stop child labor abuses in the Southeast.
“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” said division Director Karen Garnett-Civils. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers.”
In addition, Walton-based Archways Richwood LLC and Louisville-based Bell Restaurant Group I LLC allowed minors ages 14 and 15 to work beyond allowable hours, the department said.
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