For millennia children have been brutally exploited for their labor.

In Spartan times, children endured immeasurable suffering to mold them into their predestined roles as guildsmen, artisans or merchants.

When the cotton gin was invented in 1793, children were kidnapped from their homes and forced to man the cotton machines for fatiguing periods of time. It is estimated that 2/3rds of factory laborers were children.

It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that child labor laws started to take shape. The main focus was to promote child safety and also to reduce the long work days.

Fast forward to 2024 and you may not see children working in coal mines or getting their hands mangled in cotton gins, but some bad actors still violate basic child labor laws. Not just in America, but around the globe.

The latest global estimates indicate that some 160 million children were engaged in child labour at the beginning of 2020 – accounting for nearly 1 in 10 children globally.

But even in our backyard, child labor law violations are more frequent than you think.

Massachusetts Attorney General Pegs Dunkin Donuts As Leader In Child Labor Law Violations

The Massachusetts Attorney General recently issued citations and reached settlements with several large Dunkin’ franchises in towns throughout Massachusetts including in Devens, Harvard, Groton, Shirley, Lowell, Worcester, Grafton, Millbury, Westborough, Leominster and Townsend.

The Attorney General assessed over $4 million in child labor law violations across the board.

The Attorney General uncovered over a thousand instances in which the state’s child labor laws were violated, affecting hundreds of employees

The Dunkin franchises involved in the violations were cited for employing minors past the earliest and latest permissible hours, employing minors for more than eight hours per day, employing minors after 8:00 pm without an adult supervisor, and employing minors for more than nine hours in a day.

A separate investigation into another Dunkin’ franchise, Shrewsbury Enterprise, LLC, and its owner George Fellows, recently resulted in citations totaling over $100,000. In that matter, the violations included employing a minor past the earliest and latest permissible hours, employing minors for more than eight hours per day, employing a minor after 8:00 pm without an adult supervisor, employing a minor for more than nine hours in a day. Under different LLCs, Fellows currently operates 10 Dunkin’ locations in Worcester and Shrewsbury.   

Between 2022 and 2023, the Fair Labor Division’s enforcement related to Dunkin’ businesses totaled nearly $1.75 million. Earlier this year, AG Campbell issued citations against two Dunkin’ franchisees for child labor violations. In October 2022, the AG’s Office announced citations issued to the owners of Dunkin’ stores located in Lowell, Worcester, Grafton, Millbury, Westborough, and Leominster, for violations of the child labor laws. In 2021, the AG’s Office also issued citations to a management company and its owner, which operated 10 Dunkin’ locations to resolve similar violations.   

The Massachusetts child labor laws impose certain requirements related to minors in the workplace, including limiting the hours workers under 18 can work and the kinds of jobs that they can do. State law also requires employers to have Youth Employment Permits (work permits) on file for all workers under 18 and minors generally must be supervised after 8 pm.