Idaho Grocer to Pay $250K for Child Labor and Wage Violations

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has reached an agreement with an Idaho grocery store requiring the employer to pay $250,833 in civil money penalties and $5,078 in back wages and damages—and take steps to ensure future compliance with federal child labor laws after investigators found child labor and wage violations at numerous locations.

According to a DOL press release, the settlement follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined Swensen’s Magic Markets LLC violated federal child labor laws by allowing six minor-aged workers to perform hazardous duties such as cleaning meat slicers, meat tenderizers and grinders, as well as loading trash compactors and operating a rotisserie. Swensen’s Magic Markets also required youth to work outside of legally allowed hours and employed a 13-year-old child, which is under the legal age of employment in non-agricultural jobs.

In addition to the child labor violations, the division found that Swensen’s Magic Markets failed to combine all work hours from various locations, resulting in overtime violations for three workers who did not receive additional half-time pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The division recovered $2,539 in back wages and an equal amount in damages for those workers.

Swensen’s Magic Markets LLC has about 80 workers across its three Idaho locations in Hagerman, Paul and Twin Falls.

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