Meatpacking giants to pay $8 million for child labor violations
Two multibillion-dollar meatpacking companies will each pay $4 million after federal investigations revealed they had illicitly employed dozens of children through staffing agencies, the Labor Department announced this week.
Perdue Farms, a meat processing company headquartered in Salisbury, Maryland, was accused of employing children since 2020 in “hazardous occupations” at a poultry processing plant in Accomac, Virginia, which included the use of electric knives and a heat-sealing press. The children were hired through Staff Management Solutions, which was fined $125,000 for the child labor allegations, according to the Labor Department.
The agreement with JBS USA, based in Greeley, Colorado, follows a 2022 probe that found the company’s cleaning contractor employed dozens of children at its facilities, according to the Labor Department. Packers Sanitation Services, of Kieler, Wisconsin, was fined $1.5 million as a result.
“Government, industry, workers and advocates must come together to build solutions to the problem of exploitative child labor,” said Jessica Looman, wage and hour administrator for the Labor Department. “The department’s work uncovering a systemic disregard for the safety of children resulted in meaningful commitments to stop and prevent child labor exploitation.”
The $4 million payouts are the largest in a string of agreements the Labor Department has announced this week to resolve child labor violations. On Thursday, the agency said a cleaning contractor, QSI LLC, was fined $400,000 after investigators uncovered that children were working overnight sanitation shifts at meatpacking plants across eight states. In Farmington Hills, Michigan, the department announced Wednesday that a branch of Little Caesars paid $26,000 after finding the pizza shop had tasked minors with "operating dangerous equipment" including a 500-degree oven, and with working late hours.
DOL: Meatpacking plant employed children for years
Since at least 2020, the Labor Department said Perdue Farms illicitly employed children through Staff Management Solutions LLC and SMX LLC. Minors worked at a facility in Accomac, Virginia, which is used to debone and process chicken and other products with dangerous equipment, the department said.
The company also employed children past 7 p.m. on weekdays, according to investigators. The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits 14 and 15 year-old teens from working before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. during the school year. All minors are prohibited from certain occupations and industries – including meatpacking.
The agreement follows a consent order against a Tennessee-based cleaning firm employed by Purdue Farms and another company. Investigators said Fayette Janitorial Service employed children as young as 13 on overnight sanitation shifts at slaughtering and meatpacking plants. The kids were tasked with cleaning the "killing floor" and slaughtering equipment, and at least one 14-year-old suffered serious injuries, investigators said. Fayette Janitorial was ordered to pay nearly $650,000 in civil penalties in May 2024.
Perdue Farms' $4 million in restitution will be distributed to impacted children, along with organizations advocating for child labor victims and to support work to prevent future exploitation, according to the Labor Department. The company will also pay $150,000 in civil penalties.
Perdue Farms spokesperson Andrea Staub told Paste BN in a statement that the use of "underaged workers in our facilities was without authorization and is unacceptable."
She said $2 million will be used "for the benefit of impacted minors,” and another $2 million will be directed to charities in Accomac or for organizations that assist unaccompanied immigrant children, including the Eastern Shore Community College and Kids in Need of Defense.
"Perdue fully cooperated with the Department of Labor’s investigation and the investigation did not identify any current underage workers at Perdue Farms," Staub said. "While we strongly disagreed with DOL’s findings of liability, and there are no admissions in the agreement to the contrary, Perdue recognized that a prolonged dispute with the Department of Labor did nothing to address the child labor crisis."
JBS agreement follows massive 2022 probe
The agreement with JBS follows a 2022 Labor Department investigation that found the company’s cleaning contractor employed 102 children, ages 13 to 17, at 13 meat processing facilities across eight states, according to the Labor Department. Some underage employees also worked overnight shifts, and at least three suffered injuries on the job, investigators said.
Nikki Richardson, a spokesperson for JBS, said in a statement to Paste BN that the company “admits no liability” as part of the agreement with the Labor Department. She noted JBS no longer works with third-party sanitation providers to ensure high standards from a “from a safety, hiring and compliance standpoint.”
Richardson said the $4 million fund will be administered by Kids in Need of Defense, a nongovernmental organization that supports unaccompanied and separated children.
“We believe the fund outlined in the agreement will provide valuable resources and assistance to support youth who need it, which is in alignment with our zero-tolerance policy for child labor,” Richardson said.
Child labor on the rise
This week's batch of settlements represent the final stretch of the Biden administration’s crackdown on child labor since 2023, when the Labor Department announced a new task force to address an alarming spike in cases.
Child labor is on the uptick in the United States, according to the Labor Department, which has ramped up its enforcement of violations in recent years. In fiscal year 2024, the agency said it found over 730 cases of child labor violations, which resulted in uncovering the illegal employment of 4,030 children – a 31% increase since 2019.
The agency said it is currently investigating about 1,000 cases.
Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Orlando Mayorquin, Paste BN