A Florida Chick-Fil-A Was Fined Over $12.4K For Overworking Young Teens
It was a school night.
The outside of a Chick-Fil-A.
A Chick-fil-A in Florida was under investigation for overworking young teens past their legal working hours between Labor Day and June 1. The chain that was explored was located at 2551 North Dale Mabry Hwy. in Tampa.
The U.S. Department of Labor published the report on August 2, revealing that Brito Enterprises of Tampa Inc., the company that operated this particular restaurant, had 17 employees that were 14 and 15 years old working past 7 p.m., or more than three hours on a school night.
According to U.S. child labor laws, the legal age to work is 14 years old. However, there are rules for staff members under the age of 16. They can only work up to 15 hours a week and, if it's a school day, there's a three-hour maximum.
Teens these ages are also only permitted to work between 7 a.m.-7 p.m., which doesn't include school hours.
Since the owner of this restaurant failed to comply with the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the owner was fined a whopping $12,478.
“While gaining meaningful work experience is a good thing, it should not interfere with a child’s educational opportunities,” said Nicolas Ratmiroff, the Wage and Hour Division District Director in Tampa, Florida.
He also said that upper-level management must familiarize themselves with the implications and rules of hiring people at a young age with working restrictions.
Narcity reached out to Chick-fil-A about this incident and will update this article upon response.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.