Hundreds of Children Found Working at McDonald's Restaurants Across Several States

Sixty-two McDonald’s restaurants were found to be in violation of federal labor laws, the U.S. Department of Labor revealed on Wednesday.

Over 300 children were found working at the restaurants across several states, with 45 of the 62 McDonald’s restaurants located in Kentucky.

At one store in Louisville operated by Bauer Food LLC, two 10-year-olds were found to be working unpaid and as late as 2 a.m., the department said. The two children had a variety of responsibilities, including preparing and distributing orders, cleaning the store, working at the drive-thru window and operating cash registers. The department found that one of them was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited under federal law for workers under 16 years old.

Over 300 children under the age of 16 – two that were only 10-years-old – were found working beyond federal child labor limits in 62 McDonald’s locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland, according to the Department of Labor.

Click on each location below for more information.

Data: Department of Labor

Bauer Food LLC responded by saying the 10-year-olds were children of a night manager and they were just visiting their parent at work, all while not being approved by franchisee organization management.

The Labor Department’s investigation found that at least 305 children were employed in violation of federal labor laws across McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. Three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — own and operate the 62 locations found to be in violation.

Now, the three franchises face civil money penalties with an estimated combined total of more than $212,000.

Archways Richwood LLC will face the biggest penalty, an estimated $143,566 in civil money penalties, after it was found that 242 children between the ages of 14 and 15 worked beyond allowable hours at their locations.

You can read the full report from the U.S. Department of Labor here.

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