Burger King franchise fined $2 million for excessive child labor

The fine also includes compensation for unpaid wages and penalties, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office cited by Business Insider. During the investigation it emerged that overtime was not paid and that staff worked for the minimum wage or were generally forced to endure late payments.

Prosecutors said they began the investigation after receiving a complaint from a Burger King restaurant employee about unpaid wages. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that almost 2 thousand network employees suffered from the alleged violations.

Representatives for Northeast Foods had no comment and Burger King said the company “immediately contacted the franchisee.” <…> and they trained management staff on the working time of minors, conducted an audit and are also working on additional measures according to the results of the investigation.”.

Analysts of the business publication point out that the number of violations in the field of child labor is increasing in the United States. In 2024, the Ministry of Labor identified just over 4,000 minors working in violation of the law. In 2023 there will be around 5.8 thousand such children, 88% more than in 2019.