Dunkin' owner let young workers use 'dangerous' oven and work too many hours, Labor Dept. says

BOSTON - The operator of 18 Dunkin' locations in Massachusetts has agreed to pay over $20,000 for child labor law violations, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday.

The federal agency said businesses owned by franchisee Fernando Sardinha let 21 workers between the ages of 14 and 15 years old work more hours than the law allows in Assonet, Berkley, Hanover, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleboro and Weymouth. Three employees under the age of 16 in Middleboro were also allowed to use a "dangerous machine" - an oven for making sandwiches - which is against regulations for young workers.

The department said 14 and 15-year-olds were working more than three hours on a school day and past 7 p.m. during the school year. In Middleboro, the youths were said to be working more than eight hours a day and more than 40 hours per week when school was out.

Just last week, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell fined the owners of more than two dozen Dunkin' locations a combined $370,000. She said Courtney Donuts and Somerset Donut Express had minors either working too late or too early, sometimes without adult supervision, and worked 16-or-17-year-olds for more than nine hours per day.

Campbell said last week that 32 citations, mostly for child labor violations, have been issued against Dunkin' franchise owners since January 2022.