A Jacksonville Beach water park will settle an ongoing case by paying $151,606 in penalties and enhancing child labor standards.
The company in question, 1944 Beach Boulevard LLC, operator of Adventure Landing, has also signed a compliance agreement to enhance child labor safeguards and prevent future violations.
“Employing children to work excessively can jeopardize their well-being and education,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Vilma Bell in Orlando, Florida. “We are committed to ensuring that young people have positive first employment experiences that teach them valuable skills while earning wages. Employers must understand and comply with federal child labor laws to ensure young workers’ safety.”
The case revolved around the water park and a Department of Labor investigation that found they “assigned young teenagers to work late hours during the school year and as attendants on elevated water slides without certification.”
Jacksonville Beach water park to pay to resolve DoL investigation
The Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges issued the consent order after an intensive investigation by the Wage and Hour Division.
This investigation found that the company employed “14- and 15-year-olds to work past 7 p.m. on weeknights and past 9 p.m. on Fridays between the day after Labor Day and May 31.” This was outside the limitations permitted under existing labor statutes and federal law.
This is not the first time Adventure Landing has been in the sights of the Wage and Hour Division. An initial investigation was carried out in 2018, and the division assessed $6,199 in penalties after the employer assigned eight 14/15-year-olds to work longer and later than allowed and one child to “perform prohibited work at its Pineville, N.C. location.”
In addition to these penalties, Adventure Landing’s owners and proprietors have agreed to sign a compliance agreement to enhance child labor safeguards and prevent future violations.
Adventure Landing will review and enhance training on child labor regulations for all employees, including “translating content and making those training materials easily reviewable by the department’s investigators.” The company must also ensure managers report known child labor violations and provide a report outlining steps to comply.
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