The JBS Beef Plant in Grand Island, NE, the end-user in an apparent child labor scheme, is not being touched by the civil enforcement action. The labor contractor JBS was using, however, is named by a Consent Order and Judgment signed by federal Judge John M. Gerrard.
For the labor contractor, Packers Sanitation Services, the Order could result in additional fines when the U.S. Department of Labor finishes its investigation. The Order resolves the Labor Department’s civil action involving Packers Sanitation Services Inc. to enforce the child labor provisions of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Numerous evidentiary statements were filed with the U.S. District Court for Nebraska before the Order was signed. Shannon Rebolledo, regional enforcement coordinator for the Wage and Hour Division for the Labor Department’s Midwest Regional Office, said she identified 19 minors under age 18 working for Packers Sanitation Services “at various plants across the country.”
One was under 14, four were 15 years old, five were 16 years old and nine were 17 years old, her statement said.
Labor’s original complaint said that children working overnight at the JBS Beef Plant in Grand Island, NE, are required to clock in and out of their shifts by entering their ID number into a biometric time lock. The time clock takes pictures of each employee’s face, using facial recognition technology to log in and out each employee for each shift. Upon clocking in, the children would trade their...
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