The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a crackdown against child labor violators on Monday, after reporting a 69% increase in illegally employed children since 2018.
According to agency investigations, covering the last fiscal year alone, more than 3,800 children were employed illegally by 835 companies.
"This isn’t a 19th-century problem, this isn't a 20th-century problem. This is happening today that we are seeing children across the country working in conditions that they should never, ever be employed in the first place," DOL Wage and Hour Division Principal Deputy Administrator Jessica Looman told reporters on a conference call.
Research shows that employing children in certain conditions for dangerous jobs — or having them work longer than a set amount of time — can endanger their health and stunt their growth.
In recent weeks, a variety of employers have either been accused of or caught employing underage children.
The New York Times interviewed "more than 100 migrant child workers in 20 states who described jobs that were grinding them into exhaustion." These same child workers were also afraid "they had become trapped."
Also, the Times reported that children have been employed at a number of companies, including Hearthside Food Solutions.
The DOL confirmed Monday that Hearthside is currently under investigation.
In a statement, Hearthside said, "We will work collaboratively with the Department of Labor in their investigation and do our part to continue to abide by all local, state and federal employment laws."
Earlier this month, Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. paid a $1.5 million fine after the DOL found the company employed at least 102 children (ranging from 13-17 years old) in hazardous occupations, and also had them working overnight shifts at 13 meat processing plants in eight states.
In a rebuttal statement, Packers Sanitation explained it "has a zero-tolerance policy against employing anyone under the age of 18" and confirmed that none of the underage workers identified by the Department of Labor still work for the company.
Also, Packer Sanitation said it has taken steps to "strengthen our policies in this area."
Last week, Hyundai said it's divesting its controlling stake in an Alabama metal stamping plant that is one of several suppliers under investigation for employing children as young as 12 years old, Reuters reported.
"The use of underage labor at a supplier or any operation is unacceptable, and we are committed to making sure non-compliance never happens again," Hyundai Chief Executive Jaehoon Chang wrote in a Feb. 24 letter to shareholders. "This is a zero-tolerance issue."
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