The US Department of Labor on Aug. 12 obtained a consent judgment requiring Kingsport, Tennessee-based Luttrell Staffing to comply with federal child labor regulations.

Entered on Aug. 12 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the court’s action comes after the department’s Wage and Hour Division division discovered several children employed in dangerous jobs at a Morristown, Tennessee, plant operated by Tuff Torq, which produces components for such companies as John Deere, Toro and Yamaha. The division found that Professional Personnel Service Inc., operating as Luttrell Staffing in Kingsport, employed several children to work at Tuff Torq in violation of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The court’s action reflects the US Department of Labor’s relentless pursuit of any employer that endangers children by employing them to work in dangerous jobs,” Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta said in a press release. “Staffing agencies have a responsibility to make sure children are not being employed illegally and that their safety and well-being are never jeopardized in the pursuit of profit.” 

In a statement provided to SIA, Luttrell Staffing Group President and CEO Mary Wagner said “the minor employees referenced by the Department of Labor misrepresented that they were 18 or older during the hiring and onboarding process by providing fraudulent documentation of their identity and age.  

“Luttrell Staffing Group would never knowingly violate child labor laws, particularly by placing a minor in a hazardous position. At the time of the audit, two of the eight individuals identified by the Department of Labor were still working, one of which the DOL cited was a 17-year-old working in a restricted capacity.”

These workers produced fraudulent documentation of someone else’s identity, and their information passed E-Verify, Wagner noted.

“The issue of fraud is growing, particularly concerning identity theft for employment purposes,” Wagner said. “Luttrell Staffing Group is taking this matter very seriously and enhancing our current processes to confirm the authenticity of documentation and ensure that workers can legally perform their assigned work.”

In addition to paying $121,572 civil penalties, Luttrell Staffing was ordered to take the following actions:

• Provide the Wage and Hour Division with a list of all children employed, including specifying the age, current and anticipated hours of work, job duties assigned and types of machines the child operates. 
• Hire a third-party compliance specialist for a period of three years to monitor compliance with the FLSA’s child labor provisions.
• Submit a report to the division within180 days, outlining steps taken to comply with FLSA child labor requirements and then provide annual reports with updates.
• Use the division’s Youth Employment Compliance Assistance Toolkit to identify materials for use in training managers and employees, provided in a language understood by all individuals.
• Coordinate with the compliance specialist for three years to provide child labor compliance training to all management personnel twice a year and to provide training as part of the company’s orientation process for all new managers.
• Establish a toll-free number that enables employees to report violations anonymously.
• Add child labor provisions in its template for contracts with all clients. Contracts must also include the compliance specialist’s name and contact information to allow clients to contact them directly with questions or concerns regarding child labor violations.

Luttrell has corporate headquarters in Kingsport, Tennessee, and in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It provides industrial and office/clerical staffing through 40 offices in seven states: Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, California and Vermont.