Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- Two New Jersey companies that operate ShopRite supermarkets in Toms River and Manahawkin have paid a total of $198,407 in civil money penalties after a U.S. Labor Department investigation found they violated youth employment provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The companies are Perlmart of Fischer Boulevard Inc., operator of the Toms River ShopRite store, and Perlmart of Route 72 Inc., which operates the Manahawkin ShopRite. Both companies are owned by Perlmart Inc, which owns a ShopRite supermarket chain headquartered in Toms River, N.J.

An investigation conducted by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the Tom’s River store failed to ensure that 11 minors did not work beyond the hours permitted by law and allowed three minors to load, clean or operate a dough mixer. The store also allowed 82 minors to load, operate or unload a cardboard baler, without meeting the limited exception provided by the Compactors and Balers Safety Standards Modernization Act.

A separate investigation at the Manahawkin store found that the store allowed one minor to work beyond the hours permitted by law and allowed 55 minors to load, operate and/or unload a cardboard baler without meeting the limited exception provided by the Compactors and Balers Safety Standards Modernization Act.

“Employers have a responsibility to take all necessary precautions to ensure that the teen workers they hire remain safe and working in accordance to the law,” said Dominick Denato, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Southern New Jersey.

The Labor Department’s youth employment regulations identify 17 hazardous occupations prohibited for workers under the age of 18, including cardboard balers and dough mixers. The basic minimum age for employment in non-agricultural occupations is 14. Fourteen and fifteen year-olds may work in certain occupations 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 and 18 hours in a school week or eight hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a week when school is not in session.

After the Wage and Hour Division explained the requirements of the law, the Perlmart companies agreed to correct the youth employment violations and comply with the federal wage and hour law in the future.

The Labor Department’s YouthRules! Web site, www.youthrules.dol.gov, is designed to educate employers, young workers, educators and parents about youth employment, the jobs they may perform and the hours they may work. For further information about FLSA requirements, call the department’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243), visit the department’s Web site at www.wagehour.dol.gov or contact the Southern New Jersey Wage and Hour office at (609) 989-2247.

###

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.