• The owners of Burger King and Popeyes franchises in Massachusetts have been fined for child labor violations.
• The office of the Massachusetts AG said it issued more than $2 million in citations against one operator.
• The US has seen a rise in child labor violations in recent years.

The Massachusetts attorney general has fined the owners of multiple Burger King and Popeyes franchises for violating child labor laws and other labor laws.

The office of Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said this week that it issued more than $2 million in citations against Northeast Foods LLC, which operates dozens of Burger King franchises across the state.

That fine includes penalties against the company as well as restitution for unpaid wages, the AG's office said in a press release.

Campbell's office alleged that the franchise operator assigned minors to work outside of legally permitted hours and more than the nine-hour daily limit that 16 and 17 year olds can work under state law.

The AG also accused Northeast Foods of failing to pay workers on time, pay minimum wage, or pay workers at all.

The AG's office said it launched an investigation into the matter after receiving a complaint from a worker at a Burger King location over a nonpayment of wages. The investigation revealed that nearly 2,000 employees at Burger King locations operated by Northeast Foods across Massachusetts were impacted by the alleged violations, the AG's office said.

Representatives for Northeast Foods did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.

Burger King's press representative said in a statement that the company "contacted the Franchisee facing these violations immediately upon learning of them, and they have informed us they are looking into the findings of the investigation, have implemented measures such as re-training their management teams related to the work hours of minors and putting ongoing audits in place, and are working on additional actions based on the investigation."

Additionally, Campbell's office said in the same press release that it reached a settlement with two owners of 19 Popeyes locations across Massachusetts. As part of that settlement, the AG's office issued $212,516 in citations against the operators, which included restitution for impacted workers and penalties.

The AG's office said the New Jersey-based franchise operators scheduled minors for work during prohibited hours and had them work beyond the daily and weekly hour limits. They also didn't allow some workers to use their accrued sick time, the AG's office said.

Those franchise operators could not be immediately reached for comment.

Popeyes' corporate representatives said the franchisee "fully cooperated in the investigation" and has since retrained its team and is enforcing a payroll system that will alert team members when it is time to clock out.

Meanwhile, the United States has seen an increase in child labor violations in recent years.

In federal fiscal year 2023, the Department of Labor found nearly 5,800 kids employed in violation of the law, which the agency said was an 88% increase in the number of children employed in violation since 2019.

The Labor Department found just over 4,000 minors employed in violation of the law in federal fiscal year 2024.