A bakery in Winter Park, FL violated federal child labor laws by employing a 13-year-old as an unpaid ‘volunteer’ worker.
On Monday, Feb. 7, Bread & Co., a bakery in Winter Park was found to have violated child labor laws in the US by employing a 13-year old as an unpaid 'volunteer' worker while also risking the child's safety by allowing them to operate a power-driven bread slicer, according to a news release from the US Department of Labor.
“Bread & Co. used a minor as free labor and then exposed the child to a dangerous machine with the potential to cause serious injury in violation of federal law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, FL, according to the news release.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the company was found to have both risked the child’s safety while also violating federal labor laws regarding pay practices and child labor. The bakery also failed to pay the time-and-a-half rate required for all hours over 40 in a workweek, paid overtime rates only to those employees who exceeded 80 hours on a bi-weekly basis, and failed to maintain accurate records of employees’ pay and hours worked.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, an estimated 160,000 children suffer occupational injuries yearly in the US, 54,800 of which are serious enough to warrant emergency room treatment.
