Labor Department: 10-Year-Old Unpaid McDonald’s Employee Operated Deep Fryer in Louisville

A McDonald’s franchise is in some hot fryers after investigators discovered two ten-year-old working as late as 2 a.m. at a store in Louisville, Kentucky.

In a press release, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its investigators observed at the Bauer Food LLC-owned location that two ten-year-olds “prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register. The division also learned that one of the two children was allowed to operate a deep fryer, a prohibited task for workers under 16 years old.”

The ten-year-olds were not compensated, and the franchise was fined $39,711, per the DOL.

The discovery was part of a larger DOL investigation that found three Kentucky-based franchises that operate a total of 62 McDonald’s locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio violated child labor laws. Investigators found that 305 minors were involved. Collectively, the franchises racked up $212,544 in fines.

The investigation was held “to stop child labor abuses in the Southeast region,” the DOL stated.

“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville, Kentucky. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers.”

Federal law does not allow for workers aged 14 and 15 to work more than three hours a day during the school year. Even so, investigators found Bell Restaurant Group LLC had allowed two minor employees “to work during school hours.”

Upon hearing the report, Tiffanie Boyd, senior vice president and chief people officer at McDonald’s USA, told Business Insider that the reports were “deeply troubling.”

She added:

As a mother whose teenage son proudly worked at our local McDonald’s, I feel this on a very personal level. We are committed to ensuring our franchisees have the resources they need to foster safe workplaces for all employees and maintain compliance with all labor laws.

Bell Restaurant Group LLC also failed to pay employees overtime wages, and “the division recovered $14,730 in back wages” for workers, per the DOL.