Kids love ice cream, but it’s not cool to have them work too late in the day or too many hours during a school week when dishing out the frozen treat.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that three Utah locations of Cold Stone Creamery allowed its 14 to 15-year-old employees to do just that, leading to fines from the federal government.
Ogden, Clinton and Layton Cold Stone locations were fined $42,000 for these violations, though they claimed they were following erroneous legal guidance on state guidelines.
“The legal guidance the employer relied on was incorrect and ultimately resulted in federal child labor law violations, costing it over $42,000 in penalties,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City.
“We encourage employers and employees to contact our office directly to get accurate information pertaining to federal labor laws and avoid an unfortunate situation like this one.”