A contractor that has employed underage children to clean meat processing facilities around the country has agreed to pay $649,304 in fines, according to an agreement approved by a federal court in Iowa Monday.
The Labor Department obtained a preliminary injunction against Fayette Janitorial Service in February to stop using underage workers in more than 30 states.
The consent order and judgment closes the book on investigations of Seaboard Triumph Foods’ pork processing facility in Sioux City and a Perdue chicken facility in Accomac, Virginia, but does not preclude the department from assessing additional penalties based on the results of other investigations.
“Fayette agreed to nationwide compliance six days after the department filed its motion for a temporary restraining order,” the department said in a news release.
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The order requires the company to “hire a third-party consultant or compliance specialist with knowledge and experience in complying with the [Fair Labor Standards Act’s] child labor provisions within 90 days,” the department said. Seaboard Triumph Foods said in February that it had terminated contracts with Fayette.
Perdue said in September it planned to commission “a comprehensive third-party audit of child labor prevention and protection procedures, including a compliance audit of contractors and identity fraud review.”
On Tuesday, a spokesperson told Agri-Pulse that Perdue had terminated its contract with Fayette "early this year, and we have strengthened the screening and monitoring process for all our third-party contractors."
The New York Times published a story in September revealing the presence of underage workers at the Perdue plant.
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