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According to the Department of Labor, a formal complaint has been filed accusing a Hyundai factory along with two Alabama-based companies of engaging in illegal child labor practices.
According to the department’s Wage and Hour Division, a 13-year-old was employed for extensive hours, working between 50 and 60 hours weekly on an assembly line handling machinery that shapes sheet metal into auto parts. This has led to a US Attorney seeking a judicial order preventing these companies from employing children and forcing them to relinquish any profits derived from the alleged illegal activities. The accused parties include Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC and Best Practice Service LLC.

The Department of Labor claims that these companies “willfully and repeatedly” breached child labor laws from July 2021 to February 2022. In a statement, US Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said, “The Department of Labor’s complaint seeks to hold all three employers accountable in the supply chain. Companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers of staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves,” she said.
In a statement to AP, Hyundai said they intended to fight the accusations “vigorously.”