A Tennessee sawmill was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in penalties and surrender $10,000 in profits after federal investigators found three teenagers working there illegally, according to labor officials.
Two of the Plateau Sawmill LLC employees, as young as 14, were found unloading wooden boards from a conveyor belt, which violates child labor regulations in place under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the U.S. Department of Labor said in an Oct. 9 news release.
Minors aren’t allowed to work most jobs that are a part of sawmilling operations because they’re dangerous, according to the department, which lists other jobs considered dangerous to minors.
As for the 13-year-old hired by Plateau Sawmill in Clarkrange, they were too young to be working for the lumber producer, officials said. Employees have to be at least 14 to work in a non-agricultural job, according to the Department of Labor.
The investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division also discovered the three teenagers were working an hour earlier than the law allows, at 6 a.m., according to officials.
Plateau Sawmill has been ordered to pay $73,847 in civil money penalties in connection with violating child labor laws as part of a consent decree that resolved the case on July 15, officials said.
The company didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Oct. 11.
According to the consent decree, the teens were found illegally working at the sawmill between May 26 and June 26.
Plateau Sawmill was ordered to surrender the profits earned during that time, officials said.
The $10,000 in profits “will be used to benefit the children employed illegally,” according to officials.
“Federal labor laws protect children from being employed in dangerous jobs. By employing minors to do hazardous work, Plateau Sawmill put children at risk of serious harm or worse,” Juan Coria, the Wage and Hour Divison’s regional administrator in Atlanta, said in a statement.
The company has agreed to identify all of its machinery that is considered hazardous to minors by marking it with stickers that signal only adults 18 and older can use the equipment, according to officials.
Plateau Sawmill also agreed to take other actions, including updating its policies on child labor regulations and reviewing its training materials and programs, officials said.
If a manager is found liable for future child labor violations or retaliates against an employee who reports potential violations of the law, Plateau Sawmill must take disciplinary action, such as firing or suspending the manager, according to officials.
“We’ve seen an alarming rise of child labor violations in recent years across the nation. The action announced today sends a clear message that we will not tolerate companies profiting on the backs of children employed unlawfully in dangerous occupations,” Department of Labor Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard said in a statement.
Clarkrange, where the sawmill is located, is about a 110-mile drive east from Nashville.
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