(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) Two ten-year-olds were discovered working at a McDonald’s in Kentucky and the corporation was fined accordingly, according to the Department of Labor.
The DoL announced the discovery in a press release on Tuesday.
The DoL reported that it had been investigating three McDonald’s franchisees: Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaraunt Group LLC. These companies own 62 McDonald’s restaurants in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio.
The DoL found 305 children illegally employed in these franchises, including two 10-year-olds employed by Bauer Food LLC, according to Axios.
The ten-year-olds made food orders, cleaned, worked the drive through window and ran a cash register. One of them operated the deep fryer, which is illegal for people under the age of 16.
The two ten-year-olds were sometimes found working until 2:00 in the morning, according to The Post Millennial.
The companies face a total of $212,544 fines for violations of labor laws.
“[The ten-year-olds] were not approved by franchisee organization management to be in that part of the restaurant,” Bauer Foods said in a statement denying any wrongdoing. “Any ‘work’ was done at the direction of – and in the presence of – the parent without authorization by franchisee organization management or leadership.”
McDonald’s senior vice president and ‘chief people officer,’ Tiffanie Boyd, also released a statement.
“These reports are unacceptable, deeply troubling and run afoul of the high expectations we have for the entire McDonald’s brand,” she said, obviously in damage control mode. “We are committed to ensuring our franchisees have the resources they need to foster safe workplaces for all employees and maintain compliance with all labor laws.”
Karen Garnett-Civils, the Wage and Hour Division District Director of Louisville, Kentucky, released a statement, according to Breitbart News.
“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,” she said.
The investigation was part of a larger crackdown on child labor in the Southeast region.
