On 28 July 2025, Alabama-based Mar-Jac Poultry and the US Department of Labor (DOL) reached a settlement, which included $385,000 in penalties for child labour at the company’s poultry processing facilities. The settlement is not public; this alert is based on the DOL’s press release. Mar-Jac Poultry sells primarily to wholesale distributors and fast-food establishments and reportedly provides chicken to Chick-fil-A.
The settlement follows a federal investigation by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, which uncovered multiple breaches of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) child labour provisions. Not all violations have been published, but include
- Employing minors as young as 13 years old
- Employing minors in prohibited hazardous occupations such as operating forklifts, deboning and eviscerating poultry and working on kill floors
- Minors aged 14-15 working illegal overnight shifts between 22:00 and 7:00.
The company also agreed to implement compliance measures, including:
- Permitting the Wage and Hour Division to enter its facilities during any shift without a warrant and produce requested documents within 72 hours without requiring a subpoena, for a period of three years
- Preventing children from working in any prohibited or hazardous occupations and prohibiting hiring workers under 14 years old
- Requiring new workers to meet with shift managers in person before their first day of work
- Ensuring hazardous equipment is properly marked with any age restrictions
- Placing signs at facility entrances to indicate that workers must be at least 18 years old
- Keeping a record for each worker detailing wages, hours, and other conditions of work, and including date of birth for all employees under 19 years of age
- Hiring a third-party compliance specialist for three years to monitor compliance with federal child labour laws; giving quarterly child labour compliance training to all managers; and providing annual reports summarizing actions taken to comply with federal child labour laws
- Updating management training programs, training materials, and onboarding materials to include information regarding FLSA compliance
- Imposing disciplinary sanctions against management for child labour violations or retaliation against any employee that reports suspected child labour violations.
Additional Context
In 2023 a 16-year old was fatally injured at a Mar-Jac Mississippi facility. A subsequent DOL investigation resulted in Mar-Jac paying $164,814 in penalties.
A separate federal investigation was also announced in May 2025 into alleged child labour violations at Tyson Foods. That investigation concerns claims that underage workers were employed by a third party contractor at one of the company’s processing plants.