Office of the Attorney General: Holyoke Subway Restaurant Cited for Multiple Child Labor Violations

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

June 24, 2008

SPRINGFIELD – Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has cited JK Subways LLC, a company based in Holyoke, and managed by Kimberly McCarthy, age 40, of Westhampton, for violating the state’s Child Labor Laws. The company operates the Subway restaurant on College Highway in Southampton, where the violations occurred. The restaurant employed five minors as “sandwich artists.” During the period of October 2007 through December 2007, the company scheduled these minors to work later than the law permits and failed to obtain employment permits prior to starting work. As a result, the company was ordered to pay $3,600 in civil penalties for 20 separate violations that occurred during the fall of 2007.

The Attorney General’s Office began an investigation after the office received an anonymous complaint in November 2007. Inspectors from the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division conducted an audit of the restaurant’s payroll and employment records. Inspectors discovered that the company had permitted 15, 16, and 17 year-old employees to work without the proper employment permits, scheduled them to work later than the law permits, and allowed a 17 year old to work after 8:00 p.m. without adult supervision. Each of these actions violated the state’s Child Labor Laws.

The Massachusetts Child Labor Laws restrict the hours that minors who are under 18 years of age may work, require that all minors have employment permits, prohibit minors from performing hazardous duties, and mandate that no minor may work after 8:00 p.m. without adult supervision.

Further information on the Massachusetts Child Labor Laws can be found at the Attorney General’s youth employment website, http://www.laborlowdown.com, and at the Attorney General’s website, http://www.mass.gov/ago, , in the Workplace Rights section under Youth Employment. Those wishing to report violations of the Commonwealth’s Wage and Hour laws can contact the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Hotline at 413-784-1240 ext 156, or (617) 727-3465.

The case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Jay Clark and Inspector Brian Davies, both of Attorney General Coakley's Fair Labor Division.