DOL cracks down on violations of teen work schedule rules.

The Department of Labor ended 2022 and began 2023 with a series of enforcement actions against employers that violated the rules governing how and when teenage employees can work. In December, the DOL:

* Fined a Florida chain of frozen custard stands for allowing 21 minors to work outside federally permitted work hours. Teens 14 and 15 years old worked more than three hours in a school day, more than eight hours on a non-school day and more than 18 hours in a school week--all violations of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Fines totaled $15,631.

* Slapped even larger penalties on a Utah-based company that owns 11 Crumbl Cookies locations in six states for allowing young employees--many 14 and 15 years old--to work more than the law permits or in hazardous or prohibited occupations. Fines added up to $57,854.

In January, the DOL:

*...