The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) accused Qvest LLC of hiring underaged workers for cleaning services at the Seaboard Triumph Foods plant in Sioux City, IA. The alleged contraventions occurred between September 2019 and 2023. The Department of Labor accused Qvest of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by employing 11 minors to clean dangerous equipment during a night shift. Qvest settled with the DOL paying a penalty of $171,000 and required the Company to hire a compliance officer and conduct appropriate training. The Agreement binds Fayette Janitorial Services that acquired the contract in 2023 continuing the illegal practice of employing underage workers.
Seaboard Triumph was not accused of wrongdoing as it did not employ any of the underaged workers. In a statement, Seaboard Triumph that “it will not tolerate any vendor’s use of underage labor within its facilities.” Currently cleaning services are provided by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
Employment of underage and in some cases illegal immigrant workers to clean plants has been a subject of investigation involving numerous packers. The DOL documented 4,000 violations in 736 facilities from 2023 to date involving $15 million in penalties
Although operators of packing plants claim innocence through the use of third-party contractors, they have a moral and managerial obligation to ensure that obviously underaged workers are not present or performing prohibited work in their plants. Difficulty in relying on contractors to adhere to state and federal regulations and evident risk to corporate image and reputation resulted in JBS USA undertaking cleaning services within the company.