Shake Shack pays out almost $250,000 for Massachusetts little one labor legislation violations, Lawyer Common Andrea Campbell introduced Tuesday.
“Our child labor laws protect vulnerable young people as they embark on jobs to learn skills, give back to their communities, and earn their own money,” Campbell mentioned Tuesday. “I appreciate Shake Shack’s willingness to work with my office to remediate these issues, and I am grateful that they will make a significant payment towards improving youth employment opportunities in the Commonwealth.”
The AG’s investigation discovered Shake Shack “failed to obtain valid work permits prior to employing minors and scheduled minors for work during legally prohibited hours and in excess of the state’s 48 hour per week limit,” violating state little one labor legal guidelines. The violations included over 200 staff between January 2022 and December 2022, the AG mentioned.
The restaurant chain pays $122,250 in penalties and a $122,250 fee to a state fund used for enforcement and training of state employment legal guidelines.
State officers had been initially tipped off to the violations through a criticism alleging minors at a Shake Shack in Woburn had been being required to work previous what they had been legally allowed to work, the workplace mentioned.
The AG’s workplace launched an investigation, discovering extra violations in twelve Shake Shack places in Chestnut Hill, Cambridge, Dedham, Watertown, Woburn, Somerville, Burlington, Hingham, Everett, Andover, and Boston.
The corporate “fully cooperated with the AGO’s investigation and has taken steps to come into compliance with the law,” the AG mentioned.
Nevertheless, this isn’t the primary time Shake Shack was discovered of compliance with little one labor legal guidelines lately. In 2019, the AG’s workplace mentioned, the restaurant chain equally settled a case with the state regarding little one labor violations, together with “failure to obtain youth work permits and employment of minors during legally prohibited hours.”
Shake Shack agreed to pay $90,000 in penalties within the 2019 case, the AG mentioned.
Employees with the AGO’s Truthful Labor Division dealt with the Shake Shack case. The AG famous $4 million in child-labor-related restitutions and penalties secured by the AGO’s Truthful Labor Division throughout her administration on the Wholesome Summer time Youth Jobs Program over the summer season.
Massachusetts little one labor legal guidelines embrace limitations on minor’s hour and job sorts and require all employers to acquire Youth Employment Permits for staff below 18 years outdated. Extra info on Massachusetts little one labor legal guidelines and permits will be discovered on mass.gov/dols/youth.
Staff can discover extra info on office rights at mass.gov/in the past/fairlabor or by means of the AGO’s Truthful Labor Hotline and report violations at mass.gov/in the past/fld.
