Hey Compliance Warriors and Bosses!
On May 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court aiming to halt the illegal employment of children by three companies in Alabama, including a Hyundai U.S. assembly and manufacturing plant. The complaint also seeks to have the companies forfeit profits gained from using oppressive child labor.
The complaint comes after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, which discovered that a 13-year-old child worked between 50-60 hours per week on an assembly line in Luverne, Alabama. The child operated machines that formed sheet metal into auto body parts. The defendants named in the complaint are Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC, SMART Alabama LLC, and Best Practice Service, LLC. According to the complaint, Best Practice Service sent the child to SMART Alabama, which in turn provided parts to Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, making all three companies jointly responsible for employing the child.
The Department of Labor alleges that from July 11, 2021, through February 1, 2022, these companies willfully and repeatedly violated the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Additionally, the complaint states that the companies breached the “hot goods” provision of the same act.
“The Department of Labor’s complaint seeks to hold all three employers in the supply chain accountable,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “Companies cannot evade liability by blaming suppliers or staffing agencies for child labor violations when they are also the employers.”
“A 13-year-old working on an assembly line in the United States is a shocking reality,” said Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “As we work to eradicate illegal child labor, we will ensure that all employers are held accountable for breaking the law.”
The Office of the Solicitor filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in Montgomery. The Department of Labor seeks an order to stop the illegal employment of children and to require the companies to surrender profits gained through child labor.
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC operates a manufacturing facility at 700 Hyundai Blvd. in Montgomery. At the time of the incidents, SMART Alabama LLC was manufacturing component parts at 121 Shin Young Dr. in Luverne. Best Practice Service LLC, a staffing agency located at 722 Oliver Road in Montgomery, supplied labor to SMART Alabama.
In fiscal year 2023, the Department of Labor investigated 955 cases of child labor violations, affecting 5,792 children nationwide. This included 502 children employed in violation of hazardous occupation standards. The Department addressed these violations by assessing over $8 million in civil money penalties against employers.
