Sanitation contractor must pay $171K over child labor violations

The U.S. Department of Labor has fined a sanitation contractor at a Sioux City, Iowa, pork processing plant facility $171,919 over child labor violations, the second contractor at the facility to face penalties for employing children to perform dangerous work during overnight shifts.

Under a consent order and judgment, approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on Nov. 27, Guymon, Oklahoma-based Qvest LLC must also hire a third party to review and implement company policies to prevent the employment of children in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and establish a process for reporting concerns about the illegal employment of children.

Federal law forbids children under age 18 from being employed in dangerous jobs common in meat and poultry slaughtering, processing, rendering and packing operations.

Contracted to clean Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC’s plant, the sanitation contractor employed 11 children to use corrosive cleaners to clean head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws, neck clippers and other equipment from at least September 2019 through September 2023, according to the Department of Labor.

Taking over Qvest’s work, Fayette Janitorial Service LLC in September 2023 was contracted to clean the meat processing facility. In May, the department entered into a consent order and judgment with Fayette after division investigators found that the Somerville, Tennessee, contractor employed nine children illegally, some of whom were hired after losing their jobs at Qvest, which was being investigated. Fayette in May was ordered to pay $649,304 and to implement changes.