Child-labor violations found at 2 South Florida malls

[Mika]

Child-labor violations found at 2 South Florida malls
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/868505.html

An undercover investigation found underage children performing hazardous jobs at the Dolphin Mall in West Miami-Dade and the Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

During random inspections, the department's Wage and Hour Division found 50 minors operating machines ``such as trash compactors and paper balers.''

That work is against the Fair Labor Standards Act, which states that children under 18 may not operate hazardous equipment. Minors also are limited to working three hours on school days and eight on non-school days.

Nineteen businesses at those malls and The Gardens mall in Palm Beach Gardens are being fined a total of $53,271. The investigation covered stores, movie theaters and restaurants in the malls. The businesses' names were not released.

[kickysnana]

1. Clinton ended welfare. Kids have to eat. n/t

[Mika]

2. Follow up: South Florida stores cited for underage worker violations

South Florida stores cited for underage worker violations
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/870102.html

Businesses at three South Florida malls let 50 underage employees operate dangerous equipment, the U.S. Labor Department said.

BY EVAN S. BENN AND LAURA FIGUEROA
[e-mail]

A federal investigation found children in South Florida doing dangerous jobs at places that have long been associated with teenage employment: burger joints, movie theaters, toy stores and T-shirt shops.

Labor Department agents found 50 minors operating trash compactors and other machinery at stores in the Dolphin Mall in West Miami-Dade, Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise and The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens.

SEVEN STORES

Investigators checked 19 stores at the malls and found child labor violations at seven. The Dolphin Mall had the most offending businesses -- Johnny Rockets, Cobb Dolphin 19 Cinemas, KB Toys and Club Libby Lu.

A Johnny Rockets manager said the restaurant's violation concerned a 16-year-old employee working as a dishwasher -- with a piece of machinery that was supposed to be off-limits for minors. The restaurant has since taken extra precautions to make sure its underage employees perform only approved jobs, General Manager Melissa Teodorovic said.

''I worry that people are going to get the wrong impression that this is an ongoing thing,'' Teodorovic said.

Katrina Piedra, a 17-year-old Johnny Rockets waitress and senior at John Ferguson High School, said she didn't want her employer to get a bad reputation. She said she depends on the job to help make ends meet for her family.

''I use this job to help pay for my phone and my mom's gas,'' Piedra said. ``Senior year also gets really expensive. Every extra bit of money from this job helps.''

Although it's legal to employ minors in most workplaces, federal law prohibits them from performing certain jobs deemed dangerous, such as roofing, coal mining, operating a meat slicer, making explosives, using power saws and scrap compacting.

UNDER REVIEW

Mall management said it is reviewing procedures on certain equipment.

''We took a survey of all of our trash compactors and noted that each and every one of them is labeled with a caution sticker saying it's not to be operated by anyone under 18 years of age,'' said Pete Marrero, general manager of the Dolphin Mall.

Labor Department officials have not contacted the mall's management, Marrero said, adding that he believes the agency is dealing directly with the retail businesses that employ the minors.

Michael Goodman, a spokesman for Sawgrass Mills, also said the federal agency has not been in contact with mall management about the investigation.

At Sawgrass Mills, Footaction was the only business cited. Two spots at the Gardens Mall -- Chick-fil-A and Quiksilver -- also received citations.

Fines levied on the seven stores totaled $53,271 for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Local employees at many of the stores referred calls to corporate headquarters, and attempts to reach corporate spokesmen were not successful.

The investigation took several months and came after a similar enforcement effort at malls in Mississippi and Alabama, said Michael Wald, regional director of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor.

''It's up to the local district director to determine what enforcement areas to target,'' Wald said. ``The director in Miami saw results from the operation in Alabama and chose to do the same in South Florida.''