Department of Labor says 11 Crumbl locations including Utah’s, violated child labor laws
Dec 20, 2022, 12:07 PM | Updated: 6:35 pm
DALLAS, Texas – Crumbl Cookies, a Utah-based company, violated child labor laws in 11 franchise locations in six states, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
A federal investigation into the child labor violations found Crumbl allowed “young employees — many 14 and 15 years of age — to work more than the law permits or in hazardous or prohibited occupations.”
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division discovered 46 employees impacted at Crumbl Cookies’ locations in Utah, California, Washington, Minnesota, Tennessee, and New Hampshire. Of those 46 workers, 18 were employed at Utah locations.
The violations included employing minor-aged workers to work more time and later than the law allows and assigning workers to operate potentially dangerous machinery.
The breakdown of violations found in the investigation is as follows:
In total, $57,854 will be paid in penalties for child labor violations.
Founded in 2017, Crumbl Cookies is based in Lindon, Utah, and operates a network of franchised bakeries and dessert shops with more than 600 locations in 47 states.
“Employers must ensure that part-time employment does not jeopardize the safety or education of young workers,” Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Betty Campbell said. “It is the responsibility of every employer who hires minor workers to understand child labor laws, and comply with them or potentially face costly consequences.”
The law for minor employees is that 14 and 15-year-old workers cannot be required to work more than eight hours a day or exceed 40 hours per workweek. Workers of that age also cannot work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on any day of the week, except from June 1 through Labor Day at which time they can work until 9 p.m.
All workers under the age of 18 are banned from occupations considered hazardous by federal law.
Crumbl Cookies released the following statement to KSL:
“At Crumbl, we are committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming work environment for all of our franchisees and their employees. We take any violation of federal labor laws very seriously. We were deeply disappointed to learn that a small number of our franchised locations were found to be in violation of these laws.
“We are actively working to understand what has occurred at these specific store locations and will take appropriate action to ensure that all of our franchisees are fully compliant with the law. We apologize to any of our franchisees’ employees who may have been affected by this situation and want to assure the public that we are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and compliance at every Crumbl location.”
According to U.S. Department of Labor in 2022, the Wage and Hour Division found more than 3,800 minors employed in violation of child labor laws, an increase of 37 percent over the previous year. Minors employed in violation of hazardous orders were up 26 percent in the same period, with a total of 688 minors found to be working in hazardous occupations
Crumbl is currently involved in a lawsuit against two other Utah cookie companies, Dirty Dough and Crave. The company claims the two businesses are trying to profit off Crumbl’s reputation and branding.
