Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The U.S Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has assessed Prichard, Ala.-based Autry Greer & Sons $10,670 in penalties following the serious injury of a 17-year-old employee at its Theodore, Ala., Food Tiger grocery store.

The Wage and Hour Division’s investigation covered the time period between February 2006 and March 2007. The penalties were imposed after investigators determined that two employees under the age of 18 had operated a carton crusher in violation of the youth employment provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). One 17-year-old sustained serious injury that resulted in surgery and loss time exceeding 80 days.

The incident also prompted the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to begin an inspection of the company’s facilities which resulted earlier this week in proposed penalties of $56,250 for 30 safety violations found at three of its stores and at its corporate headquarters.

“There are good reasons that certain jobs are declared hazardous by the secretary of labor and are restricted to older employees,” said Oliver Peebles III, acting director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Birmingham. “Employers have an obligation to know when and where minors can work to ensure their safety.”

The FLSA prohibits the employment of individuals under the age of 18 years in any nonagricultural occupations that the department has declared hazardous. These dangerous tasks are identified by 17 hazardous occupation orders, one of which bans the operation of certain power-driven paper products machines by minors.

The department maintains 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. An interactive, Web-based “e-laws advisor,” with detailed information about youth employment laws, may be accessed at www.dol.gov/elaws by selecting the “FLSA-Child Labor Rules Advisor.”

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