Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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ATLANTA -- Piggly Wiggly franchisee, SCVS Inc., has paid $30,000 in penalties after U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division discovered that minors were allowed to perform hazardous activities and work excessive hours at the company’s grocery stores in Columbiana and Sylacauga, Ala.

The violations were uncovered as part of the Wage and Hour Division’s Gulf Coast Child Labor Grocery Store Initiative to determine if stores are in compliance with the youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“While young people can learn valuable skills by working, we cannot allow employers to jeopardize the safety and welfare of minors,” said Oliver Peebles III, assistant administrator of the Wage and Hour Division’s Southeast Region.

Investigators found that 20 minors were engaged in prohibited activities at the two stores between 2005 and 2007. Sixteen 16- and 17-year-olds operated power-driven paper products machines, including scrap paper balers and paper box compactors. Two of the 16-year-olds also were involved in operating or cleaning power-driven meat saws and grinders.

It was also determined that four 15-year-olds were employed in excess of the hours allowed under FLSA. Minors may not work more than three hours on school days, eight hours on nonschool days, 18 hours during school weeks or 40 hours during nonschool weeks. The regulations detail that 14- and 15-year-olds may work during non-school hours but no later than 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 until Labor Day).

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

For further information about the FLSA’s requirements, call the department’s toll-free helpline at 866- 4US-WAGE (866-487-9243), visit the Wage and Hour Division’s Web site at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the division’s office in Birmingham at 955 22nd St. N., Suite 656; telephone 205-731-1305.

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