Children as young as 10 are among a record number of minors illegally employed in fast food restaurants, with some of America’s biggest brands among the worst offenders, according to reports.
US bosses were discovered with nearly 6,000 children on their books last year, according to Department of Labor statistics, up from little over 1,000 in 2015, despite a collapse in the number of inspectors.
Fast food restaurants were among the worst culprits, sometimes employing school-age children late at night in defiance of federal laws designed to protect their education dating back to the 1930s.
In one case, a McDonalds franchise in Kentucky was found with two 10-year-olds in the kitchen at 2am, with the company racking up a total of 2,300 violations since 2013. In the Louisville case, despite the fine, officials claimed they were the children of a night manager and their work was not approved by franchisee management.
‘These are serious violations of the law,’ former Labor Department official and professor David Weil told the Washington Post.
‘These laws are not simply arbitrary. They’re built around the fact that, as a society, we want children first and foremost to get educated so that they can live a life where they have the skills and training to have good jobs.’
Fast food restaurants account for more than three-quarters of child labor law violations
Tyler Karpinsky (top) alleged he saw his school work deteriorate after taking a job as a 15-year-old at a Coughlin branch of McDonalds in Rutland, Vermont
McDonald’s officials told the Post child-labor violations do not reflect the experience of most teenagers working in ‘age-appropriate roles and looking for meaningful jobs in their local communities.’
Federal law prohibits 14 and 15-year-olds from working later than 7pm, and for more than three hours on school nights.
Violation of those statutes accounted for nearly three-quarters of federal cases in food outlets between 2020 and the end of September.
But older teens have far less protection with some facing an impossible struggle to balance their jobs with their school studies.
Under-18s are banned from working more than four hours on a school night or past 10pm in California.
But high school senior Sebastian Marek, 17, claims he worked six-hour days on school nights at McDonalds in East Los Angeles, eventually missing 26 days of school and arriving late on another 70 occasions.
‘When I told the manager that I wanted to work less hours because I needed more time to sleep and study, she told me that it was my fault that I couldn’t keep up with school and work,’ he said.
McDonald’s officials have yet to respond to Marek’s allegations. DailyMail.com has reached out to the company for comment.
Matthew Tulaphorn, owner of the East LA franchise said all allegations of illegal child labor were ‘unfounded’.
‘We take our responsibility as a local employer in the East LA community seriously,’ he added, according to the Post. ‘It’s important to us that all our employees have a safe and respectful work environment.’
Nayely Hernandez, who worked at the same franchise as a 17-year-old, finished school a semester late after she was contracted to work eight hours a day on three school days with an 11.30pm finish on a school night.
‘At some point I did start falling behind in class, as I only had a five-hour window to sleep,’ she said.
‘It does make me think that, because this was my first job, every job is like this.’
Sebastian Marek, at his high school graduation last year, claims he worked six-hour days on school nights at McDonalds in East Los Angeles
Analysis by the Post found that McDonalds was the worst offender nationwide, with 15 violations per 100 outlets since 2020.
In May last year, two 10-year-olds were found working for no pay in the middle of the night at a Louisville McDonald’s restaurant run by Bauer Food, with one of the two operating a deep fat fryer.
A Bauer Food spokesperson said the 10-year-olds were the children of a night manager and their work was not approved by franchisee management or leadership, but the company was fined $39,711 in total.
McDonald’s said the number of violations are small set against its 14,000 US stores 800,000 employees.
It said its outlets are provided with enough advice ‘to help franchisees ensure compliance with minor labor laws and provide enriching employment experiences to young people seeking them.’
A near-record labor shortage is behind the surge in violations, experts believe, prompted in part by the ‘Great Resignation’ of the pandemic era.
Despite the increase, 19 states are considering bills to relax child-labor laws. Florida is considering a bill that would axe all limits for 16- and 17-year-olds, allowing them to work overnight on school days.
In May, Iowa extended the latest that 14 and 15-year-olds can work on from 7pm to 9pm on a school night, while allowing 14-year-olds to work in industrial laundries, roofing and demolition.
The problem extends far beyond the fast food industry with the Department of Labor discovering 688 children working in hazardous conditions in 2022, a 26 percent rise over the previous year.
Reid Maki, the director of Child Labor Issues at the National Consumers League, said there is a ‘whole iceberg below’ the Labor Department’s numbers, with as many as 300,000 children working in agriculture, often ‘back-breaking’ 80-hour weeks while inhaling pesticides.
‘The volume of unaccompanied minors coming across the border is a huge concern,’ she told the Post.
‘We’re worried about the boys ending up in farm work. A lot of girls, too, but they’re also vulnerable to being introduced to sex work.’
McDonald’s said the number of violations are small set against its 14,000 US stores 800,000 employees. It said its outlets are provided with enough advice ‘to help franchisees ensure compliance with minor labor laws and provide enriching employment experiences to young people seeking them’
Nineteen states are planning to roll back such protections as currently exist with Florida considering a bill that would axe all limits for 16- and 17-year-olds, allowing them to work overnight on school days
Jessica Looman of the Labor Department admitted the agency’s enforcement data does ‘not provide a comprehensive picture of national child labor conditions and practices at any point in time,’ and the true number of violations could be significantly higher.
Analysts warned the franchise model operated by much of the fast food industry was encouraging child labor with franchisees facing steep licensing fees.
Coughlin Inc., which operates many McDonald’s franchises in New England, was $109,000 in 2022 for violations at nine stores in New Hampshire and Vermont.
More than 140 under-16s were allowed to work illegally, and two were burned using manually operated deep-fat fryers and ovens.
Tyler Karpinsky claims he saw his school work deteriorate after taking a job as a 15-year-old at a Coughlin branch of McDonalds in Rutland, Vermont, where he would be required to work longer than three hours on school nights.
‘I thought it was normal,’ he said.
‘But I was scared that I wouldn’t have a high enough GPA by the time I graduated.’
The 176 branches of Slim Chickens fast food had the highest rate of child labor violations. according to the Post. One Colorado outlet was cited 30 times for illegally employing 14 and 15-year-olds.
Slim Chickens said it had overhauled its recruitment practices, insisting ‘we take these matters to heart’.
Coughlin said it has introduced employment audits and retrained supervisors on child labor laws.
But Starbucks which owns or licenses all of the 16,000 US stores that make it the country’s second-largest fast food chain, has not been cited for child labor violations since 2013.
‘The franchise model is a major factor in child labor violations because it incentivizes a race to the bottom in terms of labor standards,’ said Nina Mast of the Economic Policy Institute.
Michael Layman of the International Franchise Association said his group works closely with the Labor Department on ‘compliance and education’.
‘Industries from pet services to printing use the franchise model, and these businesses work every day to provide meaningful employment opportunities to develop employment skills within the confines of the law,’ he insisted.