Perdue Farms will pay $4 million in restitution after it employed children in hazardous occupations at a Virginia plant and let them work past 7 p.m. during the regular school week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday.
The hazardous work at the Accomac facility included deboning chicken using equipment such as electric knives, the department said in a news release. The conditions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“Perdue Farms has substantial influence in the poultry processing industry,” Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said in a statement. “By entering into this agreement, Perdue Farms is taking meaningful action to root out child labor not only at its facilities but to recognize its corporate responsibility to combat child labor more broadly.”
Perdue Farms will pay restitution to the children, organizations advocating for child labor victims and to support prevention efforts, the department said. The company also will pay a $150,000 fine.
Perdue contracted with temporary staffing agency Staff Management Solutions LLC and SMX LLC. The department said the company and agency jointly employed children in hazardous occupations at the Accomac facility, located on the Eastern Shore.
The agency agreed to pay a $125,000 civil penalty, the department said.
In a statement, Perdue said it fully cooperated with the investigation, which “did not identify any current underage workers.”
Perdue said it strongly disagreed with the Labor Department’s findings and that “there are no admissions in the agreement to the contrary.”
“Perdue recognized that a prolonged dispute with the Department of Labor did nothing to address the child labor crisis,” the company said.