This holiday season, as families gather with their loved ones, they may celebrate with a cup of hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies. But if they bought those cookies at a nearby Crumbl Cookies, they may be enjoying sweets that were made by kids who were working past allowed hours or operating dangerous equipment prohibited by federal labor laws.
Many young workers are unaware of their rights and child labor protections. They may work late or perform a dangerous task simply because their manager asked. They may not realize that they can and should refuse to put themselves in harm’s way. Employers must make sure that when children work, they don’t jeopardize their health, well-being or educational opportunities, something Crumbl Cookies franchisees ignored.
Recently, investigators with the Wage and Hour Division found that Crumbl Cookies exposed 46 workers aged 14-17 to violations of the federal child labor laws, racking up a combined $57,854 in penalties.
We have resources to make sure parents, employers and young workers are aware of the rules that apply to working youth. Despite this, some employers continue to hire minors to work in hazardous occupations, assign them prohibited tasks, or schedule them beyond the hours of work permitted on a school day or week.
Federal labor law prohibits the employment of workers under the age of 14 in non-agricultural settings. 14- and 15-year-olds must work outside of the hours of school and cannot work:
Air traffic controllers have slammed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s claims that high rates of controller sick calls have led to days of delays and disruption across the Northeast, saying th...