A Wisconsin-based janitorial service firm paid a $1.5 million civil fine from the Labor Department for illegally hiring teenagers, including a dozen in Minnesota, to clean some of the nation's busiest slaughterhouses.
On Thursday, Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) paid more than $15,000 per minor hired — the federal maximum under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) — following an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division discovered what officials called "egregious" violations of federal labor law.
According to the Labor Department, at least 102 minors, between the ages of 13 and 17, were found working in slaughterhouses across the country. These jobs are federally defined as hazardous labor that youth are prohibited from working.
"There are just some jobs too dangerous for our children," Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, said on Friday.
Court documents released at the end of 2022 disclosed a Wage and Hour investigation into three PSSI worksites — including the JBS pork packing house in Worthington and the Turkey Valley plant in Marshall. But Friday's announcement by federal officials ups the number of Minnesota facilities impacted.
In total, PSSI hired 22 youth to clean the Worthington facility and two at the poultry plant in Marshall. The latest count also expanded the scope of impacted facilities; federal official say one minor was employed by PSSI to help clean Buckhead Meat of Minnesota's facility in St. Cloud.
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