Wisconsin Pizzeria Found Violating Child Labor Laws Gets Massive Fine

Although it can be a challenge while in school, I think it's great when young people take the initiative to get a job and start earning a little money while learning new responsibilities. Businesses need workers and young people can be very beneficial to have on staff.

I've witnessed that firsthand at my house with my kids getting jobs to pay for gas and the fun stuff they want, but don't necessarily need.

However, the federal government has special rules for employers hiring very young employees, which are designed to protect young workers. Unfortunately, whether it's on purpose or not, businesses don't always follow those rules.

That is not only a safe scenario for the employees, but it can also be very expensive for employers as a popular pizza parolow in Wisconsin found out the hard way.

Wisconsin Pizza Parlor Fined For Violating Federal Child Labor Laws

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a release this week announcing a pizza parlor in Irove River, Wisconsin had been fined $99,882 for violating federal child labor laws.

They will also have to have its teenage workers wear different colored shirts or name tags to help managers quickly remember the ages of young employees to avoid assigning them to dangerous duties or employing them to work longer or later than federal child labor laws permit

The child labor violations were discovered at the Iron River Pizza Parlor, located at 68285 S Main Street in Iron River. The Pizza Parlor is owned by Michelle Drougas and operated by Ironbluebear Inc.

Investigators found that Drougas illegally employed 11 children. Six children were employed to operate and clean a meat grinder, and seven children drove motor vehicles on public roadways to deliver orders. Hazardous occupation orders under the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibit these activities.

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Also, one child younger than 16 was employed to use an oven heated to between 500 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit to help prepare and cook pizza. While 14 and 15-year-olds may be employed in food preparation and limited cooking tasks, they may not perform any baking activities.

Furthermore, the Pizza Parlor also scheduled children to work for more hours than allowed by federal hours limits.

Penalties Assigned To The Pizza Parlor In Iron River

The U.S. Department of Labor says the findings require Ironbluebear and Drougas to pay $99,882 in civil money penalties in regular installments for violating child labor standards. The employers have made an initial payment of $33,294 and will pay the balance in installments through Sept. 30, 2025.

The employers also agreed to do the following:

• Apply stickers provided in the Wage and Hour Division’s Youth Employment Compliance Assistance Toolkit to hazardous equipment to alert employees under 18 years of age not to operate the equipment.
• Require all young workers to wear shirts and/or name tags color-coded to signify their ages, including one color for 14- and 15-year-old children, another for 16- and 17-year-old teens, and a third color for workers 18 and older.
• Post and provide child labor and anti-retaliation fact sheets to each employee.

“Learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up – but we must protect children and ensure their first jobs are safe and do not interfere with their education or well-being,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kristin Tout in Minneapolis, whose office is responsible for enforcing the law in Wisconsin.

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The Department of Labor says this case sends the clear message that it will use all necessary resources to protect children from dangerous employment. Companies have to understand that hiring minors comes with the responsibility of making sure children are not being employed illegally and that their safety is never in jeopardy.

Federal regulations state that children ages 14 and 15 may not work later than 7 p.m. between the day after Labor Day and May 31 and 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Their work hours may not exceed eight on a non-school day or 40 during a week when school is not in session. They may work no more than three hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours during a week when school is in session.