Teens as young as 13 worked at Kia, Hyundai parts manufacturer in Alabama, feds say
A car part manufacturer used child labor to produce parts supplied to Hyundai and Kia, federal investigators say.
The investigation determined that teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 years old worked in an Alexander City, Alabama, facility run by SL Alabama LLC, which supplies headlights and mirrors for cars, according to an Oct. 11 news release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The teenagers were hired by JK USA Staffing, a temporary employment agency, but were working for SL Alabama, the Alabama Department of Labor said in an Oct. 11 news release. Neither SL Alabama nor JK USA Staffing had any required child labor certificates, the release said.
Some minors employed at the facility operated “plastic bonding machines” in an illegal occupation, and other teens worked without proper record-keeping, the investigation revealed, the state release says.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in coordination with the Alabama Department of Labor’s Child Labor Enforcement office and Alabama’s Office of the Attorney General, a U.S. labor spokesperson told McClatchy News.
A Hyundai spokesperson told McClatchy News the company appreciates the court’s decision and is encouraged that SL Alabama is taking steps “to ensure its labor practices are consistent with local, state and federal laws.”
“Hyundai will continue to closely review the labor operations of its suppliers to ensure full compliance with all local, state and federal laws,” the spokesperson said.
SL Alabama, JK USA Staffing, and Kia did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
“Our investigation found SL Alabama engaged in oppressive child labor by employing young workers under the minimum age of 14, and by employing minors under 16 in a manufacturing occupation,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling said in the release. “Employers are responsible for knowing who is working in their facilities, ensuring that those individuals are of legal working age, and that their employment complies with all federal, state and local labor laws.”
Alabama and federal labor officials are taking court action.
A Sept. 29 consent judgment from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama prohibited SL Alabama from violating child labor provisions and from shipping any product made within 30 days of the labor violations, the federal release says.
Furthermore, the manufacturer is required to provide training materials to any entity providing workers to its Alexander City facility, according to U.S. labor officials. The company must also engage in quarterly child labor training for three years and must impose sanctions on anyone found responsible for child labor violations.
The U.S. Department of Labor has not completed its investigation into JK USA Staffing, the spokesperson said.
Both SL Alabama and JK Staffing were also fined $17,800 each by the state Department of Labor, according to the department. In total, the department says it collected more than $35,000 in penalties from the two businesses.
The legal action comes months after a Reuters report said another Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama was employing children. Following the July 22 report, a Hyundai customer filed a lawsuit against the company.
In a July 22 email in response to the report, a Hyundai spokesperson told McClatchy News that the company “does not tolerate illegal employment practices” and complies with local, state and federal law. The company did not comment on the lawsuit.
As of Oct. 11, a spokesperson told McClatchy News that the accused subsidiary had cut ties with its third-party agency that had hired the minors.
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