Iron River pizza restaurant fined, must make changes related to child labor

Pizza Parlor, a restaurant in Iron River, Wis., was fined $99,000 and must make changes with employee identification after investigators found violations of federal child labor laws.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 11 children were illegally employed. Six operated and cleaned a meat grinder, and seven reportedly drove cars on public roads to deliver orders. Another child under the age of 16 used an oven between 500-900 degrees Fahrenheit to cook pizza. The DOL says 14- and 15-year-olds can help with food prep and some cooking tasks but are not allowed to bake.

Kids were also scheduled to work beyond the hours allowed.

“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 and 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Their work hours may not exceed eight on a non-school day or 40 during a week when school is not in session. They may work no more than three hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours during a week when school is in session,” the Department of Labor press release said.

To resolve the investigation, Pizza Parlor’s owner will pay $99,882 in penalties and agreed to do the following:

• Apply stickers to alert employees under 18 years of age not to operate the equipment.
• Require all young workers to wear shirts and/or name tags color-coded to signify their ages, including one color for 14- and 15-year-old children, another for 16- and 17-year-old teens and a third color for workers 18 and older.
• Post and provide child labor and anti-retaliation fact sheets to each employee.