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Digital News Report – Three movie theater chains were fined for violating child labor laws in a total of nine states for over $277,000 worth of fines issued by the US Department of Labor (DOL). The three movie theater chains involved were Regal Cinemas Inc., Marcus Theatre Corp., and Wehrenberg Inc. The DOL said that teens were doing jobs that were deemed dangerous and were working hours more than allowed by Fair Labor Standards Act.
The DOL had their government agency Wage and Hour Division to enforce the law for teen workers and found around 160 minors in 27 different theaters had violated the child labor laws. They were allowed to operate paper balers, trash compactors, drive motor vehicles, and were able to uses power driven mixers and baking equipment. Marcus Theatre Corp. also was violating the work hour rule and allowed their teen workers to work beyond the allowed hours. The states that had the movie theaters that violated child labor laws were in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.
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Marcus Theaters operates 55 locations throughout the Midwest and are considered the sixth largest chain of theaters in the U.S. Regal Entertainment Group operates the Regal Cinemas Inc. and also operates Edwards Theaters, and United Artists Theaters with a combined total of 548 locations in 39 states. Wehrenberg Theatres is a family-owned movie theater chain that is considered the oldest in the US with around 15 locations.
Marcus Theaters paid $93,995 in civil money penalties. Regal Cinemas paid $158,400 in civil money penalties. Wehrenberg Inc. has paid $25,080 in penalties. In addition to the fines, Regal Cinemas will be showing a public service announcement regarding child labor workplace safety at all of their 458 digital cinema locations in 39 states.
The Fair Labor Standards Act pinpoints 17 hazardous jobs that are not allowed for anyone to complete under the age of 18. These include operating and unloading scrap paper balers or paper box compactors. They do say that loading could be allowed only if done according to the laws specific conditions. If an employee is a teen under the age of 16 there are limits to the amount of hours, the times they work, and other restrictions. If they are 14 or 15 years old there is only certain jobs allowed to work only around school hours but not before 7 am and not later than 7 pm or 9 pm between June 1 until Labor Day. On a school day limit is set to now more than 3 hours and no more than 18 hours for the whole school week. If there is no school currently in session the teen can work no more than 8 hours on a non-school day and no more than 40 hours during the week. To learn more about Child Labor laws the the DOL has a website at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
By Victoria Brown