The issue of children working in hazardous slaughterhouses remains a significant concern as the Labor Department recently reached its third agreement this week with a company in the industry. The company, QSI, was found to have employed 54 children at 13 meatpacking plants across eight states on overnight shifts between 2021 and 2024. This marks the fourth instance of a cleaning contractor in the industry being caught hiring underage workers in the past two-and-a-half years, resulting in QSI agreeing to pay a $400,000 penalty.
Despite QSI disputing the Department's description of the problem, investigations did not find any current juvenile workers. However, the Department has emphasized the need for reforms to prevent future hiring of underage workers in dangerous jobs like those in meatpacking plants.
Earlier this week, Perdue Farms and JBS Foods also agreed to pay penalties of $4 million each after children were discovered working at their facilities. These developments come amidst a series of child labor investigations in the meatpacking industry in recent years.
The Labor Department highlighted that it is illegal for individuals under 18 to work in hazardous jobs such as those in meatpacking plants. The Department has over 1,000 open child labor investigations and is implementing standards for hiring practices to prevent the employment of underage workers.
These standards include training managers to identify underage applicants, verifying identification documents, and ensuring subcontractors also adhere to child labor laws. Companies are expected to establish hotlines for reporting child labor concerns and maintain accurate employee records to prevent violations.
The recent agreements with companies in the meatpacking industry underscore the ongoing efforts to eradicate child labor and enhance workplace safety for all employees, particularly vulnerable young workers.
