US Labor Department investigation finds child labor, minimum wage and other violations at Street’s Seafood Restaurant

Employer name: Street’s Seafood Restaurant

Investigation site: 251 Highway 31, Bay Minette, Alabama 36507

Investigation findings: Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, Birmingham District Office, found that Street’s Seafood Restaurant violated child labor, minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The restaurant employed four minors ages 15 to 17 to work regularly in occupations prohibited for any workers less than 18-years-old. Specifically, investigators found the employer:

• Required minors to operate, dismantle, clean and reassemble a meat slicer and a dough mixer.
• Required a 17-year-old to operate a motor vehicle to transport food to catering events.
• Required a 15-year-old to work more hours than allowed by law.
• Paid some workers only $6 per hour, below the required federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
• Paid employees straight time for overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a week, instead of paying them time-and-one-half, as the law requires.
• Failed to maintain proof of age of minors.
• Failed to maintain required time and payroll records.

Resolution: Street’s Seafood Restaurant will pay $14,288 in minimum wage and overtime back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages totaling $28,577 to eight employees. Additionally, the employer was also assessed a civil money penalty of $14,125 for child labor violations.

Quote: “Employing young people provides valuable experience, but that experience must never come at the expense of their safety,” said Kenneth Stripling, director of the division’s Birmingham District Office. “Additionally, employers have an obligation to pay employees what they have legally earned. All workers deserve a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Unfortunately, Street’s Seafood violated not only child labor laws, but has also shorted workers’ pay. The resolution of this case sends a strong message that we will not tolerate either of those behaviors.”

The FLSA establishes a minimum age of 18 for workers in those nonagricultural occupations that the secretary of labor declares to be particularly hazardous for 16- and 17-year-old workers or detrimental to their health or well-being. Youth ages 14 and 15 may be employed outside of school hours in a variety of nonmanufacturing, non-mining and non-hazardous jobs for limited periods of time and under specified conditions. These rules must be followed unless a specific exemption applies. A list of hazardous occupations prohibited for minors is available on the division’s website at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/docs/haznonag.asp . More information on child labor rules can be found at http://youthrules.dol.gov/ or call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) for more information.