By: Cody Luong
Recently, the United States Department of Labor and The New York Times revealed the current scale of child labor in various industries across the country.[1] From meatpacking plants to dairy farms, exploiting underage workers has become a disturbing reality that cannot be ignored.[2]
A case that alarmed many was that of Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD (hereinafter “PSSI”), one of the nation’s largest food safety sanitation services providers.[3] The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division discovered that PSSI had used more than 100 children for hazardous work across eight states.[4] But it gets worse as PSSI employs the minimum work age at 13 instead of the 14 our country requires.[5] Under this type of work, minors work in overnight shifts, handling dangerous equipment and chemicals, resulting in injuries.[6] PSSI’s payment of $1.5 million in civil money penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations and the gravity of the situation.[7]
On the other hand, brands and auditing firms have been forced to rethink their practices and increase their efforts to fight child labor within their supply chains.[8] For example, Whole Foods recognized the risks associated with migrant child labor and pledged to address them.[9] Auditing firms like Arche Advisors have been flooded with requests for domestic audits focused on child labor; thus, the industry has started to undergo a paradigm shift.[10]
Upon learning of child labor within its supply chain, Ford has ramped up its auditing efforts and developed more effective protections to prevent the abuses from reoccurring.[11] Similar actions have been taken by other major players in the food and beverage industry, such as the Northwest Dairy Association and Smithfield Foods, who have initiated audits and implemented safeguards to ensure compliance with labor laws.[12]
Despite such measures, a legal loophole remains to exploit the pervasiveness of migrant child labor, such as those in the agriculture industry.[13] For instance, in the United States, “it is legal for children as young as 12 to work unlimited hours outside of school with parental approval if they’re working in agriculture.”[14] This double standard is reflected by the fact that children work longer hours and in far more hazardous conditions than any other employment, risking their education, health, and youth.[15] Shareholders are pushing for even more robust action from companies like Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms, urging them to strengthen their age verification auditing procedures and hold suppliers accountable for violations.[16]
These situations warn of the need for greater oversight and accountability within supply chains; however, it is not enough to be reactive. Despite companies’ pledges to address migrant child labor, the reality is that they hold the reins of power within their supply chains.[17] While some may genuinely strive for compliance, others prioritize profit margins over ethical practices, leading to a culture of finding loopholes instead of solving the real problems.[18] The present fine for a child labor violation is $15,138 per child, a negligible difference for major profitable companies.[19]
The unveiling of child labor as migrant supplies in America is a wake-up call for the industry. The brands, auditing firms, and other relevant players must take decisive action to eliminate these abuses and ensure that all workers, regardless of age or background, are treated respectfully. Only collectively can we build a tomorrow in which child labor is truly a thing of the past.
[1] See More than 100 Children Illegally Employed in Hazardous Jobs, Federal Investigation Finds; Food Sanitation Contractor Pays $1.5M In Penalties, U.S. Dep’t of Lab., https://www
.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230217-1 (2023); see also Hannah Dreier, Confronted With Child Labor in the U.S., Companies Move to Crack Down, N.Y. Times (Feb. 7, 2024), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/us/child-labor-us-companies.html#:~:text=128-,Confronted%20With%20Child%20Labor%20in%20the%20U.S.%2C%20Companies%20Move%20to,that%20goes%20into%20their%20products.
[2] See Dreier, supra note 1.
[3] See id.
[4] See id (“Working to exhaustion, children have been crushed by construction equipment, gotten yanked into industrial machinery and fallen to their deaths from rooftops.”).
[5] See elaws Advisors, Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor, U.S. Dep’t Of Lab., https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/026.htm?_ga=2.37360423.627972887.1708403680-1596329587.1707405591.
[6] See elaws Advisors, supra note 5.
[7] See Erica MacDonald & Sylvia Bokyung St. Clair, Compliance Refresher Amid DOL Child Labor Crackdown, Law360, (Jan. 2, 2024), https://www.law360.com/articles/1779139/compliance-refresher-amid-dol-child-labor-crackdown.
[8] See Dreier, supra note 1.
[9] See id (“The changes include enhancing reviews of night shifts and shifts run by outside contractors, such as cleaning companies, and moving away from announcing audits in advance.”).
[10] See id.
[11] See id. For instance, after the Times discovered that children were working for a Ford supplier, Ford began “increasing audits and requiring that thousands of manufacturers begin looking over workers more carefully, even after they are hired.”
[12] See id (“[Smithfield] has also posted signs in Spanish and other languages around its plants emphasizing age requirements.”).
[13] Legal loophole allows child labor exploitation in the U.S., FreedomUnited (May 14, 2023), https://www.freedomunited.org/news/loophole-child-exploitation/.
[14] See id.
[15] See Zama Coursen-Neff, Child Farmworkers in the United States: A “Worst Form of Child Labor,” HRW (Nov. 7, 2011), https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/17/child-farmworkers-united-states-worst-form-child-labor
[16] See Dreier, supra note 1.
[17] See Danny Zane, Julie Irwin, & Rebecca Walker Reczek, Why Companies Are Blind to Child Labor, Harv. Bus. Rev., (Jan. 28, 2016), https://hbr.org/2016/01/why-companies-are-blind-to-child-labor.
[18] See e.g. Dorothy Atkins, Nestle Shopper Seeks Class Cert. In Child Labor Labeling Suit, Law360, (Jan. 22, 2024), https://www.law360.com/articles/1788623.
[19] See MacDonald, supra note 7.
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