JBS, DOL agree to $4 million plan over child labor issues

DAILY Bites

• JBS USA Food Co. has agreed to provide $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices, with funds supporting scholarships, job training, and community organizations.

• The company has ended contracts with Packers Sanitation Services and introduced strict compliance measures, including a zero-tolerance policy for child labor violations in its supply chain.

• JBS will host industry-wide child labor prevention symposiums, hire a compliance specialist, and implement community outreach and training programs to raise awareness and prevent illegal youth employment.

DAILY Discussion

The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into an agreement with JBS USA Food Co. in which the nation’s leading meat packing processor and slaughterhouse will provide $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices nationwide.

Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, JBS USA operates a beef and pork empire with nine U.S. beef facilities, five pork facilities, and a workforce of more than 37,000 people — more than enough adults to handle the workload without needing kids to punch the clock. Supplying beef to 44 countries and pork to 26, the company’s global reach spans six continents.

Concerns arose in 2022 after discovering 50 child workers at Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD — one of the nation’s largest providers of food safety sanitation services.

The investigation began on Aug. 24, 2022, after the division received information alleging Packers Sanitation assigned minors to work in hazardous occupations. In response, the division executed warrants for the company’s operations at three plants (including the contracting done at a JBS USA packing facility), its local offices, and at PSSI’s Keiler, Wisconsin, corporate office.

In 2023, following a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding child labor issues in the meat packing sector, JBS USA ended its contracts with Packer Sanitation Services.

The Jan. 13 agreement with the Labor Department commits JBS USA to holding key elements of its supply chain, third-party contractors, and service providers accountable for illegal child labor. They are also creating a targeted advertising campaign to raise awareness about unlawful child labor practices.

“Under this agreement, JBS USA Food Co. has adopted creative and forward-thinking compliance measures to combat illegal child labor,” said Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “JBS has taken responsibility for children performing dangerous work at its facilities by proposing concrete and enforceable solutions to address those issues, setting the standard as a market leader in preventing illegal youth employment.”

JBS will fund $4 million toward preventing illegal child labor and supporting victims of child labor nationwide while prioritizing its efforts in the communities of Guntersville, Alabama; Greeley, Colorado; Ottumwa, Iowa; Worthington, Minnesota; and Grand Island, Nebraska.

The funds may provide direct assistance to affected individuals and community organizations in the form of scholarships, stipends, and educational aid, including assistance to community organizations to fund English as a Second Language teaching positions, literacy, job training, and housing.

“Host companies like JBS have enormous leverage to help prevent child labor in their supply chains and even more broadly in the industry,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “With this agreement, JBS USA Food Co. is taking significant steps to ensure children are not put in harm’s way at its facilities or by its contractors.”

In addition to the establishment of the $4 million fund for victims of child labor and community-based causes, the agreement requires JBS to do the following:

• Host or sponsor a symposium focused on preventing illegal child labor for industry leaders, non-profits and other interested parties committed to combating unlawful child labor.
• Hire a child labor compliance specialist to review policies, develop training materials and conduct unannounced audits.
• Maintain a toll-free ethics hotline for the anonymous reporting of compliance concerns.
• Incorporate a zero-tolerance policy in any contract agreements with third-party sanitation firms or poultry catching service providers.
• Notify the department when contracts have been terminated because of child labor violations.
• Conduct community outreach to educate communities about the prohibitions on child labor at meat packing establishments.
• Create targeted advertising campaigns to raise awareness about unlawful child labor in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.
• Require nationwide training on prevention of illegal child labor to all third-party sanitation employers at JBS facilities and all JBS employees at meat packing establishments.

Since 2022, the department has also investigated various third-party contractors that provide sanitation services at meat packing establishments and service providers of poultry catching operations across the U.S. These investigations discovered that JBS’s third-party service providers employed children in dangerous jobs and during overnight shifts at the company’s facilities in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

In fiscal year 2024, department investigators found more than 4,000 children had been employed in violation of federal child labor laws. The division continues to prioritize protecting children and currently has over 1,000 open child labor investigations.