Louisville McDonald's hired 10-year-olds

A chain restaurantMcDonald's, en Louisville, Kentucky, Employed two 10 year old boys, who were found working in the establishment until two in the morning.

The United States Department of Labor declared this Tuesday in astatement that the minors were employedwithout receiving a paymentand sometimes they worked until the early hours of the morning.

"Below the minimum working age, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the establishment, served the drive-thru window and operated a cash register," the government entity said.

The division also discovered that one of the two childrenwas allowed to operate a fryer, a task prohibited for workers under 16 years of age.

Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils said that "under no circumstances should there be a 10-year-old child working in a fast food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers."

For its part, the Louisville franchise assuredCNN that the two 10-year-old boys allegedly employedThey were the children of a night manager that they were visiting their father at work and did not have approval from the organization's management to be in that part of the restaurant.

The Department of Labor imposed$39,711 in fines civil rights to address child labor violations.

The revelation was part of an investigation into violations of child labor law in the southeastern United States and the investigations also revealed that three franchisees that own more than 60 McDonald's locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, "They employed 305 children to work more hours than legally permitted and perform tasks prohibited by law for young workers.

Tiffanie Boyd, senior vice president and chief people officer at McDonald's USA, toldCNN: "These reports are unacceptable, deeply concerning and go against the high expectations we have for the entire McDonald's brand."

"We are committed to ensuring that McDonald's employees work responsibly and responsibly. [...] We are committed to ensuring that our franchisees have the resources they need to foster safe workplaces for all employees and maintain compliance with all labor laws," he declared.

The three franchises involved face a combined sum of$212,754 in fines for child employment violations, according to the statement.

In an increase in violations related tochild labor, the government recalled that federal regulations limit the types of jobs that minor employees can perform and the hours they can work.

For minors under 14 and 15 years of age, these limits include that work must be done outside of school hours; It cannot exceed three hours on a school day - including Fridays - and no more than eight hours on a non-school day.

Additionally, the law states that they cannot work more than 18 hours during a school week and no more than 40 hours during a non-school week.

The day may not begin before seven in the morning nor may it extend after seven in the afternoon, except on June 1 and Labor Day, when night hours are extended until 9 at night.