The US Ministry of Labor will find two franchise locations of Georgia Zaxby endangered young workers, injured child labor, overtime laws

Encore Foods Inc. looks around $ 15,000 for civil punishments for the endangerment of 15 year olds

Athens, GA -In of a federal investigation, two Zaxby franchise restaurants in Lilburn and Grayson were jeopardized and enables them to work outside of the prescribed working hours, in violation of the Federal Labor Labor Act.

The wage and hourly department of the US Ministry of Labor found that Encore Foods Inc. from Athens made it possible for the 15-year-old workers to operate Friteus without automatic controls to reduce roast baskets into oil or fat, an occupation against minors under the age of 16.. These actions violate child labor provisions of the law on fair labor laws.

The investigators of the department found that Encore Foods did not include discretionary bonuses in the wage rate when calculating the overtime, which caused the employer to pay a lower price than the law required. In addition, the employer paid employees less than the minimum requirement of $ 684 per week. As a result, the employees were entitled to overtime.

The examination of the department led to the payment of a civil money penalty of 15,533 US dollars by Encore Foods for his violations and to reclaim 1,907 US dollars for back wages for 10 workers.

“Employers with employees of the smallest old age must follow strict laws that enable children to gain valuable experience at work without risking their security or disturbing their training” Steven Salazar in Atlanta. “It is unexcused to endanger an employee, but due to their inexperience, employees of the smallest age can be more susceptible. Employers, parents, workers and teachers must all be familiar with the federal working work laws to ensure the well -being of young workers.”

Zaxby has its headquarters in Athens and is a fast food chain with more than 900 locations in 17 states, including Georgia with 190 locations of every state in the country. About 120 Zaxby restaurants are and operated, while the rest are franchise locations.

If the historical changes in the country's workforce continue, it is more difficult for employers to keep the people they need to do, keep and recruit the jobs they offer. In December 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that 958,000 food and accommodation services have left their positions and that every year from 2020 to 2030 around 41,400 openings will be available for food manager per year.

“If more workers choose to leave employers for food industry, employers who attract young employees, offer a safe job and pay their rightful wages have the advantage when it comes to attracting and keeping workers. Those who endanger or shorten workers will probably be without the people they need to work,” added Salazar.

Find out more about the wage and hourly department, including a search tool that you should use if you believe that you may be restored by the department.