(Photo Credit: Chiptole)
Chiptole fined over $1 million for violation
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is facing a hefty fine of $1.37 million for violating an estimated 13, 253 child labor laws and other state wage and hour laws. The restaurant chain failed to make timely payments of wages, hired minors without work permits, and made minors work too many hours per day and week.
The violations occurred at more than 50 of the company’s corporate-owned locations in Massachusetts. The” national restaurant chain employs thousands of young people across the country,” so it the company’s duty to ensure that minors are in safe working environments, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.
An investigation was launched after the attorney general’s office received a complaint from a minor employee’s parent in 2016 claiming that the minor worked long past midnight at a Chipotle location in Beverly. In a settlement agreement, Chipotle voluntarily agreed to pay $500,000 towards civil citations.
Under Massachusetts law, children under 18 years of age cannot work more than nine hours or more than 48 hours per week. Workers 14 and 15 years of age cannot work later than 7 p.m. and workers who are 16 and 17 cannot work later than 10 p.m. on a day before a school day.
By: Maytinee Kramer
