Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SALT LAKE CITY -- The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Paragon Contractors Corporation of Hildale, Utah, and the company’s owners, James and Brian Jessop. The preliminary injunction seeks to stop the company and owners from violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) youth employment provisions. The department also filed a complaint seeking a permanent injunction against the company and the individuals.

The motion and complaint allege that Paragon violated the law when a 15-year-old employee of the company operated a power driven table saw on a construction site. The alleged activity violates the youth employment occupation standards governing legal employment for 14- and 15-year-olds, and the hazardous occupation orders prohibiting youth under 18 from hazardous-work employment. The alleged violations, which occurred in June 2006, follow similar violations cited in a 2005 investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

“This action sends a strong message to employers who repeatedly violate the law that the department is committed to safeguarding the health, safety and educational opportunities of young workers,” said Dean A. Campbell, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Salt Lake City. "Employers must act responsibly or the department will pursue all appropriate action to ensure the safe employment of young workers.”

Paragon Contractors Corporation was fined in February 2006 for illegally employing young workers after an investigation disclosed two minors, 12 and 13 years old, employed in violation of the FLSA 14-year legal age minimum for non-agricultural employment. The same two minors and a 15-year-old minor were working on a residential home construction site in violation of the regulatory occupation standards for 14- and 15-year-olds. All three were found working on a roof, a hazardous occupation prohibited for persons under 18. The 15-year-old minor was operating a table saw, also a violation of the hazardous occupation restrictions. The firm had agreed to comply with the child labor provisions of the FLSA following the February investigation.

The department’s youth employment regulations identify 17 hazardous occupations prohibited for workers under the age of 18, including roofing and operating power-driven circular saws, band saws and guillotine shears. The basic minimum age for employment in non-agricultural occupations is 14. 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.

This investigation was conducted by the Wage and Hour Division’s Salt Lake City District Office, 150 East Social Hall Ave., Suite 695, Salt Lake City, Utah; phone: (801) 524-5706. Youth employment compliance assistance publications are available at www.youthrules.dol.gov as well as on the Wage and Hour home page at www.wagehour.dol.gov. Information is also available toll-free at 1-866-487-9243.

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