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LAYTON — Three Cold Stone Creamery locations in Utah have been fined $42,714 by the U.S. Department of Labor for violating federal child labor laws, the department announced Thursday.
The Sweet Place LLC — operating as Cold Stone Creamery — violated federal law by allowing minors aged 14 to 15 years old to work too late in the day and for too many hours in a week while school was in session, the labor department said in a statement.
The restaurants that have been fined are located in Ogden, Clinton and Layton and the employer told the department that it "relied on erroneous legal guidance," advising it to follow less restrictive state guidelines rather than federal guidelines for employing minors, leading to the penalties, the department said.
"The legal guidance the employer relied on was incorrect and ultimately resulted in federal child labor law violations, costing it over $42,000 in penalties," Kevin Hunt, wage and hour district director in Salt Lake City, said in a statement. "We encourage employers and employees to contact our office directly to get accurate information pertaining to federal labor laws and avoid an unfortunate situation like this one."
Cold Stone Creamery did not immediately respond to requests for comment from KSL.com.
