Little Caesars’ franchisee pays $26K in penalties for employing children to operate oven, dough mixer, work beyond allowed hours

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI - A Farmington Hills Little Caesars restaurant employed minors in violation of federal child labor regulations by assigning them to operating dangerous equipment such as dough mixers and ovens and allowing three 15-year-olds to work past 7 p.m. on school nights.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division determined the shop's operator, JMP Pizza Inc., tasked one child under age 16 to use an oven heated between 500 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit to cook pizza and to operate a pizza dough mixer. Federal law forbids 14- and 15-year-old workers from performing any baking activities and they may only be involved in limited cooking tasks. The employer also permitted three children to work later and longer hours than permitted by law, investigators found.

To resolve its violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's child labor provisions, JMP Pizza paid $26,341 in civil money penalties assessed by the division.

"Learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up - but we must protect children and ensure their first jobs are safe jobs and do not interfere with their education or well-being," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. "The Fair Labor Standards Act allows for safe work experiences but restricts the employment of young workers in certain jobs and during certain hours, and provides for penalties when employers do not follow the law."

Federal regulations state that children ages 14 and 15 may not work later than 7 p.m. between the day after Labor Day and May 31, or after 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Their work hours may not exceed eight per day on a non-school day, or 40 per week when school is not in session. They may work no more than three hours on a school day, including Fridays, and no more than 18 hours in a week in which school is in session.

The YouthRules! initiative promotes positive and safe work experiences for teens by providing information about protections for young workers to youth, parents, employers and educators. Through this initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor and its partners promote developmental work experiences that help prepare young workers to enter the workforce. The Wage and Hour Division has also published Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employersto help employers comply with the law.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Download the agency's Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices - available in English and Spanish - to ensure hours and pay are accurate.