LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- A Tennessee sanitation company has been slapped with civil penalties after allegedly employing children in hazardous jobs to clean slaughtering and meatpacking facilities operated by Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC and Perdue Farms, according to a consent order and judgment approved Monday by a federal court.

Somerville, Tennessee-based Fayette Janitorial Services LLC employed at least 24 children, including some as young as 13 years old, on overnight sanitation shifts at two separate slaughtering and meatpacking facilities, Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC in Sioux City, Iowa, and Perdue Farms in Accomac, Virginia, according to the order filed by the U.S. Department of Labor in the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern Iowa.

The sanitation company will pay $649,304 in civil penalties and hire a third party to review and implement company policies to prevent the employment of children, as well as establish a reporting program.

The Fair Labor Standards Act bans children under age 18 from working in hazardous occupations common in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering and packing operations.

On Feb. 27, 2024, the Department of Labor received a preliminary injunction against Fayette Janitorial Service to stop the employment of children at its workplaces in more than 30 states. Fayette agreed to nationwide compliance six days after the department filed its motion for a temporary restraining order, according to the department.

According to the Department of Labor, federal investigators "witnessed children concealing their faces and carrying glittered school backpacks" before starting their overnight shift at the Seaboard Triumph facility.

The department said in a news release it learned children were assigned on overnight shifts to "use corrosive cleaners to clean dangerous kill floor equipment, including head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws and neck clippers. They also learned at least one child had suffered severe injuries at the Perdue Farms plant as the child tried to remove debris from dangerous machinery."

Fayette is required to hire a third-party child labor consultant or compliance specialist within 90 days to review company policies and monitor and audit the company's compliance for "at least three years."

In addition, Fayette will be required to maintain records for all employees and impose disciplinary sanctions on any management personnel "responsible for child labor violations after the date of the consent judgment."

Fayette said in a statement to DTN that the company is willingly cooperating with the federal investigation. "Fayette has strived to maintain a compliant workforce for over 25 years," the company said.

"The realization that the use of fraudulent identification documents had allowed individuals under the age of 18 to circumvent our policies and procedures required immediate action. Substantial investments in proprietary systems and technologies have closed the gap that allowed this situation to arise. The Department of Labor received full cooperation from Fayette throughout this process. Our goal remains to ensure a safe and compliant work environment for all of our employees."

The Department of Labor said that during the past fiscal year, investigators found more than 5,800 children had been employed in violation of federal child labor laws throughout the country.

In February 2023, Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD based in Kieler, Wisconsin, paid $1.5 million in civil penalties after the Department of Labor found the company employed at least 100 children ages 13-17 who worked overnight shifts at meat-processing plants in eight states.

In all, the department found Packers Sanitation Services' violations at George's Inc. in Batesville, Arkansas; Tyson Foods in Green Forest, Arkansas, and Goodlettsville, Tennessee; JBS Foods in Greeley, Colorado, Worthington, Minnesota, and Grand Island, Nebraska; Cargill Inc. in Dodge City, Kansas, and Fiona, Texas; Maple Leaf Farms Inc. in Milford, Indiana; Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, Minnesota; Buckhead Meat of Minnesota in St. Cloud, Minnesota; Gibbon Packing Co. in Gibbon, Nebraska; and Greater Omaha Packing Co. Inc. in Omaha.

Read more on DTN:

"Company to Fix Child Labor Violations," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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