The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Sonic Drive-In restaurants in Utah and Idaho $8,717, saying the restaurants allowed minors to work more hours per day and past time limits permitted by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Investigators from the Wage and Hour Division allege that the Sonic Drive-In restaurants employed seventeen 15-year-old minors who worked hours and times in violation of the FLSA. All but one minor worked hours later than permitted by law with the majority of minors working as late as 11:00 p.m., according to the department. Thirteen minors worked more than three hours on a school day.
The 17 minors worked at Sonic Drive-In locations in St. George, Washington, Layton, Brigham City, and Logan, Utah; and Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Ammon, Idaho.
Federal law prohibits the employment of 14 and 15 year-old minors before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. except from June 1 through Labor Day when evening hours are extended to 9:00 p.m. Fourteen and 15 year-old minors may not work more than three hours on a school day (including Friday), more than eight hours on a non-school day, more than 18 hours in school weeks or more than 40 hours a week in a non-school week.
The restaurant had fifteen days to take exception to the assessment of penalties but elected not to do so, according to the department. Instead, Sonic Drive-In implemented numerous policies to prevent future violations including centralizing new hire paperwork in their home office and installing new computer software to track employee dates of birth.
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