Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
Press Releases
U.S. Department of Labor |
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US Department of Labor cites 2 retail establishments in Northpark Mall, Ridgeland, Miss., for child labor violations
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has cited United Artists Northpark Stadium 14 and The Cookie Store for violating the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The violations were uncovered when investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division visited 23 establishments at Northpark Mall in Ridgeland, Miss., as part of the department’s ongoing initiative to protect the rights and safety of minors in Mississippi. The companies have been assessed penalties totaling $3,135.
“The Wage and Hour Division plans to continue this enforcement program to ensure that young workers’ activities are safe and in compliance with federal law,” said Ken Stripling, the division’s district director for Alabama and Mississippi.
Both establishments were cited for allowing underage workers to operate power-driven paper product machines, including scrap paper balers and paper box compactors. In addition, The Cookie Store failed to display a minimum wage poster as required by the FLSA.
The statute prohibits the employment of people under the age of 18 years in any nonagricultural occupations that the Labor Department has declared to be hazardous. Hazardous Occupations Order Number 12 prohibits individuals less than 18 years of age from loading, operating and unloading certain power-driven paper processing machines, including scrap paper balers, paper box compactors, guillotine paper cutters or shears, platen printing presses and envelope die-cutting presses. Minors may not work more than three hours on school days, eight hours on nonschool days, 18 hours in 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).
For more information about the FLSA, youth employment, and the jobs younger workers may perform and the hours they may work, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
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