The U.S. Department of Labor has fined a food sanitation contractor more than $1.5 million for illegally employing more than 100 children for dangerous jobs in meat processing facilities across eight states. Those facilities included some of the nation’s largest distributors, including Tyson Foods, JBS Foods and Cargill.

What You Need To Know

• The U.S. Department of Labor fined Packer Sanitation Services $1.5 million for hiring more than 100 minors to work dangerous jobs in meatpacking plants across the United States


• Investigators found that at least 102 children between 13 and 17 years of age were hired to work at 13 plants in eight states


• At least three children were injured while on the job, officials said


• State legislators in Nebraska and Iowa are seeking to relax child labor laws to shore up the workforce in those states; Iowa's law would shield business from civil liability if child workers are injured or killed

Packers Sanitation Services, one of the largest food safety sanitation services in the U.S., was fined $1.5 million after the Labor Department found that they employed at least 102 children, between 13 and 17 years of age.

Investigators found that the children were working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment, including saws and blades. Through its investigation, labor learned that at least three children were injured while on the job.

“The child labor violations in this case were systemic and reached across eight states, and...

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