An investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has found that three Alabama companies have been profiting from child labor. On May 30, 2024, the department filed a complaint in federal court in an effort to prevent Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC, SMART Alabama LLC, and Best Practice Service, LLC from illegally using child workers. As part of the complaint, the DOL is asking that the profits generated by the use of oppressive child labor be surrendered since it violates the “hot goods” provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
During its investigation, the DOL discovered a 13-year-old employee who spent 50-60 hours a week using machines to form sheet metal into auto body parts. According to the department, the child was sent by Best Practice Service to the SMART Alabama facility, where parts for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama are produced, meaning that the child was employed by all three companies. The DOL alleges that the companies repeatedly violated the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act from July 11, 2021, through Feb. 1, 2022.
What people are saying
In a recent quote, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said, “The Department of Labor’s complaint seeks to hold all three employers accountable in the supply chain. Companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers or staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves.”
Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman added, “A 13-year-old working on an assembly line in the United States of America shocks the conscience. As we work to stop illegal child labor where we find it, we also continue to ensure that all employers are held accountable for violating the law.”
DOL in the news
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Learn more about child labor
Does US Manufacturing Have a Child Labor Problem?
Incidents of child labor violations in the U.S. have risen since the pandemic.
ASSP Speaks out Against Exploitative Child Labor
Group will advocate for prohibition of child labor in global standards such as the ANSI/ASSP/ISO 45001 and ANSI/ASSP Z10.
DOL Releases Annual Worst Forms of Child Labor Report
The report includes an overview of 131 countries child labor situations including trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor and hazardous work.