Iron River restaurant fined nearly $100K for child labor law violations – Northern News Now

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Iron River Pizza Restaurant Fined for Violating Child Labor Laws

IRON RIVER, Wis. (Northern News Now) – A pizza restaurant in Iron River has been fined nearly $100,000 for violating child labor laws.

Pizza Parlor owners and its operator Ironbluebear Inc. will pay $99,882 in civil money penalties in regular installments for violating child labor standards.

The employers made an initial payment of $33,294 and will pay the balance in installments through Sept. 30, 2025.

Investigators found Pizza Parlor and owner Michelle Drougas illegally employed 11 children.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), six children were employed to operate and clean a meat grinder.

Additionally, seven children drove motor vehicles on public roadways to deliver orders.

Officials say these duties are prohibited by hazardous occupations orders under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Pizza parlor had another violation as one they employed a child younger than 16 to use an oven heated between 500 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit to help prepare and cook pizza.

According to the DOL, workers who are 14 and 15 years old can be employed in food preparation and limited cooking tasks, but they can not perform any baking activities.

The employers also assigned children to work in violation of federal limits on hours.

Federal regulations state that children ages 14 and 15 may not work later than 7 p.m. between the day after Labor Day and May 31 and 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.

Their work hours may not exceed eight on a non-school day or 40 during a week when school is not in session.

They may work no more than three hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours during a week when school is in session.

Pizza Parlor agreed to do the following on top of the issued fines:

• Apply stickers provided in the Wage and Hour Division’s Youth Employment Compliance Assistance Toolkit to hazardous equipment to alert employees under 18 years of age not to operate the equipment.
• Require all young workers to wear shirts and/or name tags color-coded to signify their ages, including one color for 14 and 15 year old children, another for 16 and 17 year old teens, and a third color for workers 18 and older.
• Post and provide child labor and anti-retaliation fact sheets to each employee.

“Learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up – but we must protect children and ensure their first jobs are safe and do not interfere with their education or well-being,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kristin Tout in Minneapolis, whose office is responsible for enforcing the law in Wisconsin.

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SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDGs Addressed or Connected to the Issues Highlighted in the Article

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 4: Quality Education

2. Specific Targets Based on the Article’s Content

• Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
• Target 4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.

3. Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article

• Indicator 8.7.1: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labor, by sex and age group.
• Indicator 4.4.1: Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

The article highlights violations of child labor laws by a pizza restaurant, which is connected to SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Specifically, it addresses Target 8.7, which aims to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The article mentions that the restaurant illegally employed 11 children, assigning them hazardous duties and violating federal limits on working hours. The indicator 8.7.1, which measures the proportion and number of children engaged in child labor, is relevant to track progress towards this target.

The article also relates to SDG 4: Quality Education. Target 4.4 focuses on increasing the number of youth and adults with relevant skills for employment. The article mentions that the restaurant employed children to operate machinery and deliver orders, indicating a lack of relevant skills and potential interference with their education. The indicator 4.4.1, which measures the proportion of youth and adults with ICT skills, can be used to assess progress in this area.

Source: northernnewsnow.com