Chipotle Fined For Violating Child Labor Laws

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant chain was fined a year and had 13,253 offenses at more than 50 locations. Among them: underage workers had to work long hours after midnight and worked more than 48 hours a week.

According to details shared by the prosecution, employees under the age of 18 testified before investigators in the case that their extended batches of work prevented them from fulfilling their school duties. In addition, some lacked work permits.

"Chipotle is a major national restaurant chain that employs thousands of young people across the country and has a duty to ensure that minors are safe working in their restaurants," Healey said in a statement on its website. "We hope [this] sends a message to other fast food chains and restaurants that they cannot violate our child labor laws and put youth at risk."

The investigation found that Chipotle failed to adequately notify its employees of their rights to taking sick time, failed to provide authorities with complete records of their employees' arrival and departure times, and, in some locations, failed to pay workers within of regulated time.

As part of the agreement between Chipotle and the authorities, the company agreed to pay an additional $ 500,000 to create a fund to educate young people about child labor laws, a project that will be administered by the prosecution office.

Chipotle's investigation began about 4 years ago when a parent of a minor complained about his work hours - which ended after midnight - at one of the restaurant's branches in the city of Beverly.