Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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OSKALOOSA, Kan. -- CBC Inc., doing business as Oskaloosa Thriftway in Oskaloosa, Kan., has been cited for youth employment violations and assessed $20,487 in civil money penalties by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The grocery store was cited following an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division that found nine individuals under 16 years of age employed in violation of the hours-time standards of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Violations include minors working as early as 5:32 a.m. and working beyond 7 p.m. numerous times after Labor Day through the end of May.

Additional youth employment violations include one minor working in a freezer and/or cooler stocking meat and dairy products. The Labor Department’s hazardous orders violations prohibit employees under 18 years of age operating a forklift, and minors loading and operating a box bailer.

The employer has paid the civil money penalties.

“This enforcement action is part of the department’s continuing efforts to eliminate the practices of having teen employees work late hours during the school week and in prohibited occupations,” said James F. Koren, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Kansas City, Kansas.

The department’s youth employment regulations identify 17 hazardous occupations prohibited for workers under the age of 18. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds may work in certain occupations outside school hours, but not before 7 a.m. or 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.

The Labor Department has a YouthRules! Web site, www.youthrules.dol.gov, to educate employers, young workers and parents about youth employment, the jobs teens may perform and the hours they may work.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Labor Department’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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