TATER TOTS

10-Year-Olds Found Working Unpaid at Kentucky McDonald’s Until 2 a.m.

The two 10-year-olds prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window, and operated a register, investigators found.

A pair of 10-year-olds were among the hundreds of children found to be working at McDonald’s franchises across Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio in violation of federal labor laws, authorities said Tuesday. Summarizing the probe’s findings across the Southeast, the Department of Labor said three franchisees that owned more than 60 McDonald’s locations across the four states employed 305 children to work illegal hours and perform tasks prohibited for young workers. In the 10-year-olds’ case, investigators found them working unpaid and until as late as 2 a.m. at a Louisville restaurant. They “prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register,” the Department of Labor said in a news release. One of the two children was also allowed to operate a deep fryer, investigators said. The Louisville franchise’s owner, Sean Bauer, told CBS News that the children were visiting a parent who worked as a night manager at the restaurant, who directed them to do the illegal tasks they were caught performing. The investigations led to assessments of $212,544 in civil money penalties against the employers.