Burger King What Have You Done? – $250K Child Labor Law Violation Fine

Labor law

When you have a busy life and a hectic work schedule, surely you do not get time to cook your own meal and eat at home. The next best option that you have is takeout then. Among your favorite takeout chains then, if you are a Burger King fan, you might throw up a little after reading about this legal issue that made Burger King popular for all the wrong reasons.

Before you dive into the case, a little background of the international chain is needed. For those of you who do not know, Burger King started off as a small-scale American style fast food chain. Even the owners did not think that their business would soon prosper. It became so popular that it landed on various international chain offers. You can find various locations of this fast food chain that began back in 1953 all over the United States of America. And it will always travel with you.

Whether you go to the United Arab Emirates or France, you will always have a Burger King Chain to dine at in case you want to. This Florida-based chain became so popular that it has now been declared as the fifth-largest restaurant chain that masters in Burger King Whoppers and more. However, founders James McLamore and David Edgerton did not see this curve ball coming.

A franchise chain of Burger King Chain that has 43 stores alone in Massachusetts is now fined with $250,000 by the court for violating child labor law. One might have thought this penalty came with just one violation. However, it has been recorded that the court took action after about 800 child labor violations! With that, these violations occurred not only in one of the stores but all across the franchise. The State’s attorney general was even shaken by such mass level violations.

Along with that, Northeast Foods, LLC which is based in Sugarland, Texas was also cited in this child labor violation case. Among the people who were charged, the owner Shoukat Dhanani was also cited for allowing minors to work for long hours. Their working hours were too many and with that, no permit for labor was established either, as announced by AG Maura Healey in 2017.

If you are wondering how this case was noticed by the court, a complaint was actually received by the AG’s Fair Labor Division. This incident was highlighted by a minor employee himself/herself as he was working really late at the Tewksbury store.

When the investigation of the violation of labor law began, the AG’s officers discovered about 843 reported child labor law violations. These cases were found between the January and May of 2017. What shocked the attorney involved even more was that above 30 stores in Massachusetts were involved. Before we go further, Massachusetts’ child labor laws do not permit long hours or tough hours for children. There is a limited range of work that children can work on.

As a resolution of this case, the Northeast Foods Company was taken to the court and they agreed to pay the fine over the period of a year. Surely, going almost bankrupt taught them a lesson. With that, the also pledged to become compliant with the state’s law, as reported by the officials.

The attorney team and the court concluded that there is a high percentage of young employees who have been working at fast food chains as their first jobs. With an employment, these workers are also unaware of the rights they have.

In this case, it is highly important that international chains like Burger King Franchisee, where there is a large force of young employees, the company should have complied with the state’s child labor laws in the first place.

Along with that, the minors should have been ensured a safe work environment in the restaurants. If you are a minor yourself and you have been working late at your workplace whilst your rights as an employee as suppressed, the state urges you to read the labor laws of your state and make your case in the court.

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