Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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BALTIMORE, Md. -- The U.S. Labor Department has initiated an administrative proceeding against TopMulch Inc., now know as Gold Leaf Group Inc., Brookeville, Md., for refusing to pay a $22,000 civil money penalty. The penalty was assessed for two violations involving a 15-year-old minor killed while illegally employed by the company in May 2004. The fatality occurred when the minor fell into a mulch-spreading machine while performing landscaping work at a residential property in Potomac, Md.

Filed with the Office of Administrative Law Judges, the proceeding seeks an order requiring the company to pay the fine and barring it from future violation of the youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

TopMulch was cited for the violations on July 15, 2004, after an investigation conducted by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. The agency found that from May 3-18, 2004, the 15-year-old minor was employed as a landscape laborer during school hours when school was in session and worked each day from 6:00 a.m. until approximately 4:00 p.m. The minor’s job involved operating a power-driven mulch spreader attached to a motor vehicle.

“TopMulch’s refusal to take responsibility for the violations and pay the fine increases the likelihood that they could occur again,” says Corlis Sellers, administrator of the Wage and Hour northeast region. "We want to prevent another accident by ensuring that teens have safe and rewarding work experiences during hours that do not interfere with their studies."

Under federal provisions, 15-year-old workers cannot operate power-driven machinery, drive a motor vehicle or serve as a helper on a motor vehicle.

Hours are also restricted for workers under age 16. Fourteen and 15-year-olds may work outside school hours, but not before 7 a.m., and not later than 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 until Labor Day). They may not work more than three hours on a school day nor more than 18 hours in a school week. They may work up to eight hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week.

In May 2002, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao launched YouthRules!, a public awareness campaign to educate young workers, parents and employers about the jobs that young people can perform and the hours they can work. Information about the campaign and the youth employment provisions are available on the Internet at http://youthrules.dol.gov. For additional information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE or visit www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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