The US Department of Labor recently discovered children working at a Mar-Jac Poultry slaughterhouse in Alabama, less than a year after a teen worker died at one of the company’s facilities in Mississippi. The DOL filed a civil complaint stating that children were found working on the kill floor deboning poultry and cutting carcasses. Mar-Jac operates facilities in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The company primarily sells to wholesale distributors and national fast food establishments, although the specific companies were not listed. The DOL has ongoing investigations into multiple Mar-Jac plants in Alabama and Mississippi.
Federal labor law prohibits children from certain jobs in slaughterhouses and meat packaging plants due to hazardous conditions, such as using or cleaning machinery. The DOL’s complaint against Mar-Jac alleged that the company employed several minors under the age of 18 in hazardous occupations on the kill floor. The products coming out of the facility were considered “hot goods” under the Fair Labor Standards Act because they were tainted by child labor, resulting in Mar-Jac being unjustly enriched. The company denied the allegations and stated that the minors were hired with documents showing they were over 18 years of age.
The allegations against Mar-Jac come after a 16-year-old worker was killed at one of their processing plants in Mississippi in July. This was the second employee to die at the facility in just over two years. The company described the teen’s death as an accident and stated that they were cooperating with OSHA’s investigation. Earlier this year, the DOL proposed a fine of $212,646 against Mar-Jac related to the incident. The department is continuing its investigations into the matter.
The Labor Department has been cracking down on incidents of child labor, especially in meatpacking facilities. In February 2023, the DOL and HHS announced increased efforts to combat child labor, citing a 69% increase in illegal employment of children by companies. Another recent case involved a janitorial company being fined $649,000 for hiring minors, as young as 13, for dangerous jobs cleaning slaughterhouses. Fayette Janitorial Service employed at least 24 children, leading to the significant penalty. The DOL is actively investigating these cases to ensure compliance with labor laws and protect vulnerable workers, including minors.
