300 minors, including 10-year-olds, found working at McDonald's

Three McDonald's franchisees operating in Kentucky have been fined $212,544 after federal investigations discovered 305 minors, including 10-year-olds, working illegally in their restaurants, violating federal labour laws.

The US Department of Labour's Wage and Hour Division conducted the investigations and discovered that Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC, and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC, which together operate 62 McDonald's locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, employed children to work beyond legally permitted hours and performed tasks that are prohibited by law for young workers.

Two 10-year-olds were found to be employed at a Louisville McDonald's restaurant, where they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register. One of the children was even allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is strictly prohibited for workers under 16 years of age.

Bauer Food, a Louisville-based operator of 10 McDonald's locations, employed 24 minors, under the age of 16, to work beyond the legally permitted hours. These children sometimes worked more hours a day or week than the law allows, whether or not school was in session.

Archways Richwood, a Walton-based operator of 27 McDonald's locations, allowed 242 minors, between the ages of 14 and 15, to work beyond the permitted hours. Most worked earlier or later in the day than the law permits and more than three hours on school days.

Bell Restaurant Group, a Louisville-based operator of four McDonald's locations, allowed 39 workers, ages 14 and 15, to work beyond and for more hours than the law permits. Some of these children worked more than the daily and weekly limits during school days and school weeks, and the employer allowed two of them to work during school hours.

Federal child labour regulations limit the types of jobs minor-aged employees can perform and the hours they can work. The division found 688 minors employed illegally in hazardous occupations in fiscal year 2022, the highest annual count since fiscal year 2011.

"An employer who hires young workers must know the rules," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville, Kentucky. "An employer, parent, or young worker with questions can contact us for help understanding their obligations and rights under the law."

The fines levied against the employers are meant to address child labour violations and serve as a reminder that the safety and well-being of young workers should never be compromised.