The owner of four Dairy Queen franchises in New Jersey was ordered to pay more than $14,000 after authorities say he violated child labor laws by having nearly two dozen 15-year-old employees work shifts longer than three hours on school days and until as late at 10 p.m. during the academic year.
Additionally, Konstantine Menegatos – who operates Dairy Queen locations in Rutherford, West Milford, Emerson and Belmar – was fined $9,764 for failing to pay an overtime premium to 14 workers who were on the clock more than 40 hours each week and did not offer the minimum wage to another employee, the U.S. Department of Labor said in an Oct. 30 press release.
In a statement, Paula Ruffin, North Jersey district director of the wage and hour division office in Mountainside, said, “Fast food franchises like Dairy Queen offer minor-aged workers valuable work experience, but federal law ensures that experience does not come at the expense of a young worker’s education or related activities.”
She went on to encourage employers to take advantage of the tools the DOL offers to help them learn about compliance, including the recently published online resource “Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers.”
Under the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 14- and 15-year-old employees are prohibited from working later than 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day and past 7 p.m. the remainder of the year. Additionally, they cannot work more than three hours on a school day, eight hours on a...
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