A major crackdown on child-labor violations is coming, White House says

The Biden administration pledged Tuesday to crack down on employers who fail to follow federal safeguards for minors in the workplace, an effort that could land some grocers in the crosshairs.

The effort is intended to curb abuses like the employment of 102 children aged 13 to 17 by the slaughter-house cleaning specialist Packers Sanitation Services. An investigation found the youngsters using hazardous chemicals to clean industrial meat-cutting machines such as head splitters and back saws. Some of the children worked the overnight shift.

Last May, Kroger was fined more than $13,000 by the U.S. Department of Labor for allowing three minor-aged workers, 16- and 17-year-olds, to load a trash compactor with the keys in the machine to allow operation. The employer also permitted a 15-year-old employee to work more than three hours on a school day and more than 18 hours during a school week, according to the agency. 

In announcing the campaign to curb abuse of children in the workplace, the White House did not differentiate between situations that posed a significant physical danger to workers under age 18 and violations of a more technical nature, such as scheduling lapses.

The administration said the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69% jump in found violations of child-labor laws since 2018. In the past year alone, 835 employers have been investigated, and 600 situations are currently being assessed.

“We see every day the scourge of child labor in this country, and we have a legal and a moral obligation to take every step in our power to prevent it,” Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in a statement. “This is not a 19th century problem–this is a today problem. We need Congress to come to the table, we need states to come to the table. This is a problem that will take all of us to stop.”

The stepped-up effort will begin with the formation of a cross-agency task force to study the problem and educate employers, the administration said. The task force will include the Department of Health and Human Services and will be led by Labor.

The administration also intends to draft a national enforcement effort, using data to identify areas where violations of child-labor laws appear to be rampant.

To put teeth into that effort, the White House said it will ask Congress to stiffen the penalties for violations. A violation can cost an employer no more than $15,138 per child under current law.

“That’s not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies,” the administration said in announcing the crackdown.

It also intends to ask Congress for $50 million in additional funding to beef up the policing efforts of Labor’s Office of Wages and Hours and the federal Office of the Solicitor. The former lost 12% of its staff between 2010 and 2019 because Congress froze its allocation, and the latter lost 100 lawyers, the White House said.

This story originally appeared in WGB sister publication Restaurant Business. It has been modified slightly.