The Department of Labor revealed a 44% increase in the number of minors that were being employed illegally.
Officials from the agency confirmed to IJR that between Oct. 1, 2022, and July 20, 2023, the agency had discovered 4,474 minors who were employed illegally, representing a 44% increase from Oct. 1, 2021, to July 20, 2022, according to a press release from the department.
“The Biden-Harris administration, Department of Labor and members of the Interagency Task Force to Combat Child Labor Exploitation are leaving no stone unturned to root out exploitative child labor,” Julie Su, acting secretary of labor, said in the press release Wednesday.
As a result of “enhanced child labor enforcement efforts,” the department was able to wrap up 765 cases involving illegal child labor.
Employers found employing minors in violation of child labor laws were hit with “more than $6.6 million” in fines, representing an 87% increase in penalties dished out during the same period last year, according to the press release.
Common violations of child labor laws are children working longer hours than they should be, being allowed to drive a vehicle or forklift, using meat-processing equipment or dough and batter mixers, as well as being hired to do a job that is not allowed for them while underage, according to the department’s website.
News of the increase in minors being found employed by businesses comes after the agency announced that 16 McDonald’s franchises located in Louisiana and Texas were found to have employed more than 80 minors.
In Louisiana, 72 minors between the ages of 14 and 15 years old had been employed throughout 12 locations, with three of the minors being allowed to operate deep fryers, a task not allowed for anyone under the age of 16, according to the department. Ten teenagers, between the ages of 14 and 15 years old had been employed at four locations in Texas. The children were allowed to work longer hours than permitted, and seven of them were allowed to operate a deep fryer and oven.
Prior to this, six Sonic Drive-In locations in Nevada were issued more than $71,000 in penalties in May after being found to be in violation of child labor laws.
“Child labor is an issue that gets to the heart of who we are as a country and who we want to be,” Su said in the press release. “Like the President, we believe that any child working in a dangerous or hazardous environment is one child too many.”