House lawmakers call for dramatic increases in child labor penalties – The Washington Post

Federal regulators and children’s advocates are grappling with a surge in reports of child labor across the country.
The Labor Department in March reported a 69-percent increase in minors employed in violation of federal law since 2018. Between 2018 and 2022, federal regulators opened cases for 4,144 child labor violations covering 15,462 youth workers, according to federal data.
A parts supplier for automaker Hyundai in October paid $30,000 in fines to the federal government and $35,000 to Alabama regulators after it was found to have employed children as young as 13 in an assembly plant. The company reported almost $124 million in 2022 net income.
In February, the Labor Department fined Packers Sanitation Services, a subcontractor in meatpacking plants throughout the South and Midwest, $1.5 million for illegally employing 102 minors, assigning children as young as 13 to use caustic chemicals to clean “razor-sharp saws,” head splitters and other dangerous equipment.
— Read on www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/28/child-labor-fines/