Rockdale restaurant fined for illegally employing 25 underage workers
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Rockdale restaurant and catering company was fined for illegally employing 25 underage workers as bussers, runners and dishwashers after 7 p.m. on school nights and 9 p.m. on weekends, and some for more than 18 hours a week.
The company also denied seven other workers overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release.
The federal agency said Syl's Restaurant and Lounge, in Rockdale, also known as Premier Events & Banquets Inc., violated child labor laws limiting the number of hours 14 and 15-year-old employees can work. The company also runs a catering service at the Renaissance Center in Joliet.
"Child labor laws very specifically limit how many hours and at what times minors under 16 years of age can work," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Tom Gauza in Chicago in a statement. "Employers have a legal responsibility for making sure they provide a safe environment for minor-aged workers and that they do not interfere with their schooling or overall well-being."
The agency imposed an $18,350 fine and recovered $2,671 in back wages for the seven employees who were paid straight time for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek.
