McDonald's cited by AG; Child labor law violations alleged.BOSTON - Attorney General Martha Coakley's office has issued civil citations assessing $3,250 in penalties against a McDonald's restaurant franchise in Whitinsville for multiple child labor child labor, use of the young as workers in factories, farms, and mines. Child labor was first recognized as a social problem with the introduction of the factory system in late 18th-century Great Britain. violations.Owner Joseph Spadea of West Brookfield and his franchise were cited for allowing minors to work beyond permitted work hours and for having the minors work more than the maximum daily hours allowed by law. In February 2008, the attorney general's office began an investigation of the Whitinsville McDonald's after receiving multiple complaints that the restaurant had violated vi·o·late tr.v. vi·o·lat·ed, vi·o·lat·ing, vi·o·lates 1. To break or disregard (a law or promise, for example). 2. To assault (a person) sexually. 3. state child labor laws Federal and state legislation that protects children by restricting the type and hours of work they perform. The specific purpose of child labor laws is to safeguard children against harm generally associated with child labor, such as exposure to hazardous, unsanitary, or . Investigators audited the company's payroll records payroll record, n a printed form on which detailed records are kept of the amounts of money paid to auxiliaries. The record has columns for all the necessary tax deductions so that a detailed record is available for tax reporting and cost accounting. and discovered that on numerous occasions between December 2007 and March 2008, the restaurant employed a 16- or 17-year-old either before 6 a.m. or after midnight, the earliest and latest permissible per·mis·si·ble adj. Permitted; allowable: permissible tax deductions; permissible behavior in school. per·mis hours for a 16- or 17-year-old to work in a restaurant on nights not preceding a regularly scheduled school day, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a news release from the attorney general. Investigators also discovered four occasions when the restaurant employed a 16- or 17-year-old for more than nine hours in a day, the maximum number of daily work hours allowed under child labor laws for 16- or 17-year-old workers. Massachusetts child labor laws restrict the occupations in which minors may be employed as well as the hours they may work. The law also requires employers to ensure that teens have proper work permits before beginning work, and that employers post all minors' work schedules in the workplace. Amendments to the child labor laws were enacted in 2007 to provide new protection for minors, including restricting employment of 16- and 17-year-olds to 10 p.m. on nights preceding school. Another safeguard in the law makes it illegal for minors to work past 8 p.m. without adult supervision. ART: PHOTO PHOTOG pho·tog n. Informal A person who takes photographs, especially as a profession; a photographer. : T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA CUTLINE: The state attorney general's office has issued civil citations against the Whitinsville McDonald's restaurant for violation of the state's child labor laws. |
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