Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. -- Jamco LLC, doing business as Taco Bell in Scottsbluff, has been cited for alleged youth employment violations and assessed $6,875 in civil money penalties, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced today.

Jamco was cited because 11 minors, ages 14 and 15, routinely worked at the Taco Bell restaurant until 10 p.m. and sometimes as late as 11:30 p.m., and up to 30 hours during the school week. Additionally, two of the minors used the cooker to fry chips in oil heated to 400 degrees without the use of an automated basket.

“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 Percella Maupins, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Des Moines, Iowa.

The company, claiming to have been completely unaware that federal youth employment restrictions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) apply to its business, has agreed to carefully monitor future compliance. It also has filed a timely exception to the civil money penalty assessment.

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 regulations require that 14- and 15-year-olds may only use deep fat fryers that are equipped with and utilize devices that automatically lower and raise the baskets into and out of the oil or grease.

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 help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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