Perdue Farms Found Jointly Liable For Illegal Child Labor (1)

Maryland-based Perdue Farms Inc. has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve a US Department of Labor probe into child labor violations at its poultry processing facility in Virginia, a rare move by the agency to hold a company accountable as a joint employer for labor violations committed by its subcontractors.

Perdue and staffing agencies Staff Management Solutions LLC and SMX LLC entered into individual agreements with the DOL after a wage division investigation discovered that going back to 2020 Perdue and SMX had “jointly employed” children to work late hours and debone and process chickens using electric knives and ...