Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. -- The U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division announced today that CLP Corporation, operator of McDonald’s franchise restaurants in Birmingham, Gadsden and Anniston, has paid $101,915 in civil money penalties and $38,880 in back wages to more than 570 employees. The company has also agreed to future compliance with the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that all employees work in safe and healthy workplaces," said Oliver Peebles, III, Wage and Hour Division’s Gulf Coast acting district director. "The $101,915 in civil money penalties imposed against this company reflects the Department's special emphasis on protecting young workers from hazardous conditions in the workplace."

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that minors operated trash compactors and drove motor vehicles at some restaurant locations --- work deemed too hazardous for youths under the age of 18. Additionally, managers at some locations allegedly allowed 14- and 15-year-olds to work more than three hours, or later than 7:00 p.m., on school days.

Wage-Hour investigators also found that some employees at the company’s 44 locations had not been paid for all hours worked.

The company agreed to pay $38,880 in back wages to 574 employees; train managers and new employees on youth employment provisions of the FLSA; post warnings and age-restriction stickers on all hazardous equipment; implement a self-audit program, and conduct periodic compliance audits of all its locations for the next two years.

In May 2002, the Department of Labor launched its YouthRules! initiative, a public awareness campaign to educate young workers, parents and employers about the hours that young people may work and the jobs they may perform. The FLSA sets forth hours that minors under the age of 16 may work and specifies hazardous occupations prohibited for minors under the age of 18.

The Act allows 14- and 15-year-olds to work outside school hours, but not later than 7:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. from June 1 until Labor Day) and for no more than three hours on school days or 18 hours during school weeks. These minors may work up to eight hours on non-school days, or 40 hours during non-school weeks. The FLSA also sets the federal minimum wage, currently $5.15 per hour, and the payment of time and one-half an employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a week.

Information about federal youth employment provisions can be found on the Internet at www.youthrules.dol.gov. For further information on other requirements of the FLSA, call the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243), visit the department’s web site at www.wagehour.dol.gov, or the Birmingham district office located at 955 22nd Street North, Suite 656; phone: (205) 731-1305.

###

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.