US Labor Dept Discovers 149 Child Labor Violations at Freddy’s

A series of U.S. Department of Labor investigations at seven Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers franchise locations in Alabama has found the operator employed 149 children under age 16 to work longer and later than legally permitted by federal child labor provisions and tasked a 15-year-old child to illegally operate a manual deep fryer.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that locations, owned by Mark Houghton, employed children – ages 14 and 15 – to work more than three hours on a school day, after 7 p.m. between the day after Labor Day and May 31, and after 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day. They also learned the employer employed a 15-year-old child to use a fryer without an automatic device for lowering and raising its baskets, a prohibited occupation by law.

“Positive and safe first work experiences can allow young people to develop skills, earn money and learn what it means to be part of the labor force, but a job should never endanger a child’s well-being,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “The Fair Labor Standards Act restricts the hours 14- and 15-year-olds can work and identifies dangerous jobs that are prohibited for workers under 18-years-old.”

The department assessed the employer with $119,029 in civil money penalties to resolve its child labor violations at the following Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers locations:

In fiscal year 2023, the division found child labor violations involving 5,792 children nationwide, an increase of more than 150 percent since 2018. To address those violations, the division assessed employers more than $8 million in civil money penalties.

Founded in 2002 in Wichita, Kansas, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers was acquired by a private equity firm, Thompson Street Capital Partners in 2021. The company now has more than 500 locations in 36 U.S. states and Canada.