A warehouse in Kentucky that employed two children, including an 11-year-old who operated a forklift, has been fined $30,276 and ordered to stop hiring underage workers. The US Department of Labor says the children were employed at the Win.It America Inc. for months before the labor law violation was uncovered in August, NBC News reports. The department says operating a forklift is considered hazardous for people under 18. The other child worker, a 13-year-old, picked up orders in the warehouse, "a prohibited occupation for workers under 16," the department said in a press release.
"In addition, the company employed both children for more hours than legally allowed and violated federal regulations that forbid employing workers under 14 years of age in non-agricultural occupations," the department said. Under a consent judgment last month, the company was ordered to hire a consultant for "semi-annual compliance training for all management personnel for a period of three years." The department said there has been an alarming rise in the use of child labor.
"When we find child labor violations, the Department of Labor will not hesitate to use all enforcement tools available to compel compliance, including stopping the shipment of goods created and produced while the business was breaking the law to do so," Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard said in a statement. Win.IT America is the US branch of a "supply chain solutions" firm headquartered in China, the department said. WCPO reports that the company was ordered to pay $1 million in back wages to workers last year after the department found it had failed to properly calculate overtime pay. (More child labor stories.)
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