Poultry Processor Settles with Feds Over Child Labor Violations

Mar-Jac was previously investigated following the death of a 16-year-old worker in 2023.

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A Georgia poultry processor will pay $385,000 to settle allegations that it illegally employed children at a facility in Alabama, federal officials announced Monday.

The U.S. Department of Labor said that Mar-Jac Poultry AL LLC will pay civil money penalties and will be barred from โ€œany future child labor violationsโ€ under a consent judgment obtained in federal court.

The agencyโ€™s Wage and Hour Division had accused Mar-Jac of employing children as young as 13, and that children as young as 14 and 15 were performing prohibited tasks, such as operating forklifts, โ€œdeboning and evisceratingโ€ poultry, and working on the kill floor.

Fourteen- and 15-year-old workers were also allowed to work past legal hours at the facility, including many on overnight shifts.

The agency had previously investigated Mar-Jac following the death of a 16-year-old worker at a Mississippi plant in 2023.

โ€œThe U.S. Department of Labor will use all enforcement tools available to protect young workers and hold employers accountable if they repeatedly violate workersโ€™ rights,โ€ Juan Coria, the Wage and Hour Divisionโ€™s regional administrator in Atlanta, said in a statement.

Additional provisions of the settlement, in part, require Mar-Jac to hire a third-party compliance officer for three years, as well as issue an annual report on compliance with child labor laws and train its managers on compliance each quarter.

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