Company Accused Of Hiring Children At MN Job Sites Agrees To Oversight

GRANT COUNTY, WI — A Wisconsin-based company accused of hiring minors as young as 13 for dangerous overnight work in states including Minnesota has agreed to comply with child labor laws as part of a consent order and judgment brought in the wake of an ongoing federal investigation, authorities announced Tuesday.

Packers Sanitation Services Inc. — also known as PSSI — is headquartered in Grant County, Wisconsin, and was found last month to have hired at least 31 children ages 13 to 17 for hazardous jobs cleaning power equipment overnight, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. PSSI provides sanitation and other services for about 700 food processing facilities nationwide and has roughly 17,000 employees, the department said.

The young workers were based at Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, and JBS USA plants in Worthington and Grand Island, Nebraska, according to the department. Several of the children, including one 13-year-old, suffered chemical burns and other injuries, according to a previous department news release, which also alleged PSSI interfered with the investigation by intimidating juvenile workers and deleting and manipulating employment files.

The department has since verified that PSSI employed a total of at least another 50 minors at two additional job sites.

“Across the nation, we’ve seen child labor violations increase 50 percent since 2018,” Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri said in a department news release, noting there are restrictions on what jobs certain teens can do, and which and how many hours they can work. “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.”

Under the terms of the agreement, PSSI will review its existing policies and training for child labor law compliance and hire a third-party consultant, according to the department. The consultant will help PSSI revise policies and procedures as necessary, provide regular child labor compliance training, and be allowed to monitor and audit PSSI’s compliance with child labor provisions, the department said. PSSI must also include a child labor provision in its contract template for new clients, according to the department.

In a statement to KSTP, the company cited its “industry-leading” employee identity confirmation procedures, including requiring the use of the government E-verify system.

“We have been crystal clear from the start: PSSI has a zero-tolerance policy against employing anyone under the age of 18 and fully shares DOL’s objective of ensuring it is followed to the letter at all local plants,” the company said in the statement.