Crumbl Cookies in Twin Cities fined for violating child labor laws
MINNEAPOLIS -- A popular cookie chain is in trouble after 11 of its bakeries were found to be in violation of child labor laws--including one in the Twin Cities.
Crumbl Cookies is facing over $57,000 in penalties, the U.S. Department of Labor says, after it allegedly allowed young employees to work more than the law permits and violated hazardous job rules.
A Crumbl Cookies store in the Twin Cities is one of those accused of violating child labor laws, and was fined nearly $1,500.
The U.S. Department of Labor says a total of 46 workers--many of them 14 and 15 years old--were affected by the violations, two of those employed at one of the Minnesota stores.
Crumbl Cookies made this statement to WCCO:
"At Crumbl, we are committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming work environment for all of our franchisees and their employees. We take any violation of federal labor laws very seriously. We were deeply disappointed to learn that a small number of our franchised locations were found to be in violation of these laws. We are actively working to understand what has occurred at these specific store locations and will take appropriate action to ensure that all of our franchisees are fully compliant with the law. We apologize to any of our franchisees' employees who may have been affected by this situation and want to assure the public that we are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and compliance at every Crumbl location."
