KIELER, Wis. — One of the largest food safety sanitation service providers in the country has paid more than $1.5 million in fines after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the company violated child labor laws.
Last year, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division determined Kieler, Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD employed at least 102 children between the ages of 13 and 17 and had them working in "hazardous occupations."
According to a press release from the agency, the three-month investigation determined children were working at 13 facilities across eight states, including three plants in Minnesota. The minors were working overnight shifts, working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment like back saws and head splitters, and according to the Department of Labor, at least three were injured while working for PSSI.
In December, PSSI settled with the Department of Labor and agreed in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act child labor provisions and "take significant steps to ensure future compliance with the law."
The agreement also called for PSSI to a hire a third party consultant to monitor work sites and hiring for three years.
“These children should never have been employed in meat packing plants and this can only happen when employers do not take responsibility to prevent child labor violations from occurring in the first place," Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman said in a statement.
In total, PSSI paid $1,544,076 in civil penalties on Feb. 16, 2023.
The three Minnesota processing plants included in the investigation were Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, Buckhead Meat of Minnesota in St. Cloud, and JBS Foods in Worthington.
Penalties from violations at the three plants topped more than $378,000 and affected 25 children – two in Marshall, one in St. Cloud and 22 in Worthington.
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