Nebraska Firm Reaches Deal With Feds Over Hiring Of Kids

An industrial cleaning company in Nebraska accused by federal investigators of hiring dozens of children to clean slaughterhouses during the graveyard shift has resolved the allegations with the US Department of Labor, according to a federal court filing filed Tuesday morning, Laura Strickler and Julianne McShane reported in an exclusive for NBC News.

Photo Insert: Allegations of child labor at a slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska, date back to 2016.

As part of the consent order, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., or PSSI, will review and enhance its existing policies and training materials and hire a third-party consultant to conduct “quarterly child labor compliance training” and monitor the company’s compliance for three years.

The company will also provide a new child labor provision in its contracts with clients and will notify the Labor Department as to how many employees it terminated as a result of its compliance with child labor laws.

Allegations of child labor at a slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska, date back to 2016, according to a local police report obtained by NBC News.

The report stated that an officer was called to the local middle school because a 14-year-old girl had “injuries to her hands.” The document shows that the allegations were investigated as “child abuse.”

A spokesperson for the Grand Island Police Department said that the injuries were from the child’s work at PSSI. The matter was referred to the local prosecutor and the guardian of the child was investigated but not charged.

Michael Lazzeri, regional administrator for the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division in Chicago, said the division will complete its investigation and "ensure children are not working in violation of federal laws at this company or at others." Lazzeri said child labor violations are up by 50% since 2018.

“This case should serve as a stark reminder for all employers that the U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate violations of the law, especially those that put vulnerable children at risk.

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