The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a federal consent decree requiring Plateau Sawmill LLC, a lumber producer in Clarkrange, Tennessee, to cease violations of federal child labor regulations. The company must also pay fines and return profits made from products manufactured during the violations.

The consent decree was filed on July 15, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It follows an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division that found Plateau Sawmill employed two children as young as 14 years old to unload wood boards from a conveyor belt, violating child labor provisions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Additionally, a 13-year-old was employed in violation of the FLSA's minimum age requirement of 14 for non-agricultural work. Investigators noted that three children worked from 6 a.m., which is earlier than allowed by law.

The division ordered Plateau Sawmill to pay $73,847 in civil monetary penalties for its child labor violations. The court also upheld the department's request for Plateau Sawmill to surrender $10,000 in profits earned between May 26 and June 26, 2024, related to oppressive child labor practices by the employer. These funds will be used to benefit the children who were illegally employed.

“Federal labor laws protect children from being employed in hazardous jobs. By employing minors to perform dangerous tasks, Plateau Sawmill put these children at risk of serious harm or worse,” stated Juan Coria, regional administrator for Wage and Hour Division in Atlanta. “Once we became aware of the employer’s violations, the Department of Labor acted immediately to hold this company accountable for failing to protect these children.”

In addition to paying fines and returning profits while committing to future compliance with federal child labor regulations, Plateau Sawmill agreed to:

- Audit machinery at all its facilities to identify equipment deemed hazardous by FLSA and label them with stickers warning employees that no one under 18 may operate them.

- Review and improve existing policies and training materials related to compliance with federal child labor regulations.

- Impose disciplinary sanctions including dismissal or suspension of any supervisor responsible for child labor violations or retaliation against any employee reporting alleged violations.

- Allow unannounced inspections without warrant for five years.

- Refrain from retaliating against employees or their family members who file complaints related to FLSA issues.

“This consent judgment holds Plateau Sawmill accountable while also deterring future violations,” said Tremelle Howard, regional solicitor in Atlanta. “In recent years we have seen an alarming increase in child labor violations across the country. Today’s action sends a clear message that we will not tolerate businesses profiting off illegally employed children in dangerous occupations.”

In fiscal year 2023, the department investigated 955 cases involving child labor law infractions affecting 5,792 minors nationwide; among them were 502 minors working in violation of hazardous occupation standards. The department addressed these breaches by imposing over $8 million in civil penalties on employers.

Founded in Clarkrange in 2015 with approximately nine employees currently on staff at Plateau Sawmill.

More information about Wage and Hour Division along with regulations concerning prohibited hazardous work for workers under age eighteen can be found online.

The division offers confidential compliance assistance available regardless of origin location through agency helpline: 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). They can communicate with callers speaking more than two hundred languages.