Labor Department: Over 100 children hired to clean meatpacking plants, including in Minnesota

A Wisconsin-based janitorial service firm paid a $1.5 million civil fine after the Labor Department discovered it had illegally hired teenagers, including a dozen in Minnesota, to clean some of the nation's busiest slaughterhouses.

Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) has now paid more than $15,000 per minor hired — the federal maximum under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) — after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division discovered a much more widespread and "egregious" level of violations of federal labor law.

According to the Labor Department, at least 102 minors, between ages 13 and 17, were found working in slaughterhouses across the country. These jobs are federally defined as hazardous labor that youth are prohibited from working.

"There are just some jobs too dangerous for our children," Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, said Friday.

In a statement, PSSI said it was pleased to reach a settlement. The company had resolved the complaint with the Labor Department in December, stating that none of the minors reported in the investigation are still employed.

"As soon as we became aware of the DOL'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," PSSI said.

Court documents released at the end of 2022 disclosed a Wage and Hour investigation into three PSSI worksites — including the JBS pork packing house in Worthington and the Turkey Valley plant in Marshall. But Friday's announcement by federal officials ups the number of Minnesota facilities involved.

In total, PSSI hired 22 youth to clean the Worthington facility, two at the poultry plant in Marshall, and one at Buckhead Meat of Minnesota's facility in St. Cloud, the last of which was not previously disclosed.

A spokesperson for Sysco, which owns Buckhead Meat, said the company has "zero tolerance" for child labor and understands that PSSI has "taken actions to resolve the matter," including implementing new procedures.

Federal authorities say the sweep of PSSI's facilities included records at more than 50 job sites. Given that PSSI maintains more than 400 cleaning contracts, the Labor Department believes more than 102 minors have been hired illegally to work for the company.

"I don't want to speculate [on the total number of minors employed by PSSI over the past three years]," said Michael Lazzeri, a Wage and Hour regional administrator in Chicago. "But we can all do math."

Friday's announcement also revealed PSSI employed minors at two Cargill-owned facilities, including 26 hired by the sanitation firm to clean a Cargill-owned facility in Dodge City, Kan.

In a statement, Cargill noted the Labor Department's settlement did not involve any claims of misconduct against the Minnetonka-based agribusiness.

Cargill's supplier code of conduct prohibits any use of child labor by vendors and suppliers. PSSI verified no minors are currently working at the company's facilities.

"If we discover that a Cargill contractor knowingly employs underage labor in its operations, we are prepared to terminate that existing contract and seek to find an alternative solution for its services," the company said.

Rhonda Burke, a Labor Department spokeswoman, said the department "verified each minor found in violation and is confident that the numbers presented are correct."

Federal officials say PSSI employed minors to clean other facilities owned by the nation's few beef processing giants — including Tyson. Last month, JBS ended its contract with PSSI to clean the Worthington pork-processing plant. The company has declined to name the new cleaner.

Labor officials say the hazardous chemicals used to clean the meat-cutting tools housed in slaughterhouses make the work particularly dangerous, especially for minors. The FLSA expressly forbids those younger than 18 from working in slaughterhouses.

The investigation, which began in August, concluded that three minors incurred chemical burns from working overnight cleaning the plants.

PSSI has said it had a companywide prohibition against employing minors but suggested that hiring managers may have skirted these strictures by soliciting fraudulent identity documents from applicants.