One of the nation's largest food safety sanitation service providers, Packers Sanitation Services Inc, has been ordered to pay $1.5 million In civil money penalties following a Federal investigation into their labor practices. The investigation, conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's wage and hour division, found that Packers had violated labor and wage laws after the company employed at least 102 children ranging in ages from 13 to 17 to clean meat packing facilities across eight states.
By employing children to do hazardous work, the Department of Labor found that Packers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and assessed a fine of $15,138 for each minor-aged employee that worked in violation of the law.
The investigation began in August 2020, but it was not until November 9th, 2022, that a complaint was filed with the U.S. District Court of Nebraska based on evidence supporting the labor law violations.
One day after the complaint was filed, U.S. District Court Judge John M. Gerrard issued a temporary restraining order which forbade the company from committing child labor violations. On December 6th, 2022, the U.S. District Court of Nebraska entered a consent order and judgment in which Packers agreed to comply with the FLSA. Additionally, Packers agreed to take the necessary steps to make sure that they would continue complying with the law in the future. Packers also agreed to hire an outside compliance specialist to ensure that violations did not continue.
The company, which is based in Kieler, Wisconsin, has made headlines over the past couple of months after allegations surfaced of labor violations regarding child workers. According to the labor department, Packers hired children to work in meat sanitation plants for major meat companies including Tyson Foods. Early in the investigation, the Labor Department found that at least 31 children as young as 13 were working at slaughterhouses and meat packing plants using heavy machinery that posed occupational hazards not suitable for children.
Because of these hazards, some children faced injuries including caustic chemical burns while working with heavy meat-cutting machinery. In some instances, the children worked during nighttime hours with their shifts concluding just before school started. According to reports one 14-year-old reported to a shift that started at 11:00 p.m. and finished at 5:00 a.m. This shift went on five to six days a week and resulted in the 14-year-old suffering chemical burns from the machines that were used to cut the meat. Additionally, according to school records, the 14-year-old consistently fell asleep at school or missed class entirely on several occasions.
The investigation also concluded that the sanitation company knowingly employed children, therefore knowingly violating child labor laws. Michael Lazzeri, the regional administrator in Chicago of the Labor Department’s wage and hour division, shared in a statement the investigation “found Packers Sanitation Services’ systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags.” Lazzari went on to share that “When the wage and hour division arrived with warrants, the adults — who had recruited, hired and supervised these children — tried to derail our efforts to investigate their employment practices.”
Packers has consistently denied the allegations that they knew they were hiring children for roles that would violate wage and labor laws. The company shared that it used an E-verify system, along with biometrics, and other identification and screening checks to make sure that all of its employees were 18 years of age or older.
In a statement following the fine, Packers defended itself explaining, “We have been crystal clear from the start: Our company has a zero-tolerance policy against employing anyone under the age of 18 and fully shares the D.O.L.’s objective of ensuring full compliance at all locations.” Adding, “As soon as we became aware of the D.O.L.’s allegations, we conducted multiple additional audits of our employee base, and hired a third-party law firm to review and help further strengthen our policies in this area.”
Following the hefty fine, Packers added that they were “fully committed to working with D.O.L. to make additional improvements to enforce our prohibition of employing anyone under the age of 18.”
