Putting worker safety and health first

Combating child labor, identifying mine violators and recovering wages

U.S. Department of Labor

January 16, 2025

Largest U.S. meat processor enters $4M agreement to combat child labor

The department has entered into an agreement with JBS USA Food Co. in which the nation’s leading meat packing processor and slaughterhouse will provide $4 million to prevent illegal child labor and support victims of the practice nationwide. The Jan. 13 agreement commits JBS to holding its supply chain, third-party contractors and service providers accountable for illegal child labor. In fiscal year 2024, department investigators found more than 4,000 illegally employed children.

Poultry workers wearing PPE on a poultry processing line.

Meat and poultry companies urged to make worker safety a ‘first principle’

The latest findings in the USDA’s report on worker safety in poultry and swine plants show that injuries, including chronic pain and musculoskeletal disorders, are too common. These kinds of injuries often go unreported.

Read about the findings from the USDA on worker safety in poultry and swine plants
Read Acting Labor Secretary Su's statement on the report

$1M recovery may have chilling effect on California wage thieves

Seventy workers at California ice manufacturers in San Diego and Lake Elsinore will receive their share of $527,687 in back wages and an equal amount in damages recovered by Wage and Hour Division investigators who determined the companies’ common ownership deliberately withheld overtime workers earned. Investigators learned many regularly worked an average of 16 hours of unpaid overtime each week.

Chronic violators and operators who disregard miners’ safety and health identified

MSHA released the second Pattern of Violations screening in 2024. In the past two years, violations at 200 mines with the most significant and substantial violations have decreased 15 percent. These screenings help MSHA improve safety compliance and are a critical tool to protect the nation’s miners and rein in chronic violators.

Folders with the label Employees and Salaries.

Wages recovered at home and beyond

Read the success stories of how the Wage and Hour Division and the Bureau of International Labor Affairs stood up to recover back wages and much more for workers both domestically and abroad.

We sued a Wichita adult gentlemen’s club to recover wages for 80 dancers
A Mexican manufacturer will pay bonuses and back wages and rehire two fired workers

Nominate a hero today!

Each year, the department awards the Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor to recognize extraordinary efforts by an individual, company, organization or national government in reducing the worst forms of child labor. Established in 2008 by Congress, the award honors Masih, a Pakistani child sold into slavery at age four to work as a carpet weaver. After escaping at age 10, Masih became an outspoken public advocate against child exploitation. Two years later in his native Pakistan, he was killed tragically. Nominations must be submitted by Feb. 21.

An older Black woman in professional dress looks at the camera while holding a marker.

The effects of the gender wage gap

The Women’s Bureau’s recent analysis of the gender wage gap reveals that women – especially older women – throughout the U.S. are dealing with the negative effects of earning less over time, including:

An exploration of the wage gap for older women
The gender wage gap since the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
How to improve women's retirement security