Announcements include new interagency child labor task force
WASHINGTON – Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies. In the last fiscal year, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of labor laws. The maximum civil monetary penalty under current law for a child labor violation is $15,138 per child. That’s not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies.
The department takes these egregious violations very seriously and investigates every child labor complaint they receive and acts to hold employers accountable. On Feb. 17, 2023, the Department of Labor announced the resolution of one of the largest child labor cases in its history against Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD. The department currently has over 600 child labor investigations underway and continues to field complaints and initiate investigations to protect children.
At the same time, the U.S. has seen an influx in migrant children from Latin America fleeing violence and poverty, a majority of whom do not have a parent in the U.S..
“Every child in this country, regardless of their circumstance, deserves protection and care as we would expect for our own child,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. “At Health and Human Services, we will continue to do our part to protect the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied children by...
A La Habra-based provider of positron emission tomography scan services has agreed to pay more than $8.3 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by offering improper payment...