JBS USA Food Co., a leading meat packing processor and slaughterhouse, will provide $4 million to address illegal child labor practices nationwide, according to a Monday announcement from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The agreement follows an investigation by the agency in 2022, which found 102 children, ages 13 to 17, employed illegally by Packers Sanitation Services Inc., a cleaning services contractor for JBS and other meat and poultry processors.
More than half of those children were found working in JBS plants in Grand Island, Nebraska; Worthington, Minnesota; and Greeley, Colorado. They worked in “hazardous occupations,” including cleaning meat processing equipment like back saws, brisket saws and head splitters.
While the children were not directly employed by JBS, the agreement “commits JBS to holding key elements of its supply chain, third-party contractors and service providers accountable for illegal child labor,” DOL said.
Packers Sanitations Services Inc. separately paid $1.5 million in civil penalties.
JBS’ $4 million commitment will primarily focus on the three aforementioned communities, as well as Guntersville, Alabama, and Ottumwa, Iowa, DOL said. Affected individuals and community organizations may be eligible for scholarships, stipends and educational aid, including funding for English learner program teachers, literacy, job training and housing.
Additionally, JBS proposed a number of “concrete and enforceable solutions” to ensure it does not harbor illegal child labor practices, Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman said in DOL’s announcement. The company agreed to hire a child labor compliance specialist to review policies and conduct audits, maintain an ethics hotline for anonymous reporting, incorporate a zero-tolerance policy in contract agreements, require nationwide training on child labor law to third-party sanitation employers and more.
Looman praised the steps JBS outlined as “creative and forward-thinking” and said the company was “setting the standard as a market leader in preventing illegal youth employment.”
DOL has been heavily focused on child labor enforcement in recent years, and recently introduced a new form to ease reporting of child labor complaints. The agency concluded 736 investigations that found child labor violations in fiscal year 2024, according to a department summary. DOL found 4,030 total children illegally employed — a 31% jump from 2019 — and assessed more than $15 million in penalties, it said.