UI Violated Child Labor Laws, Feds Say Fines Reach $14,475 For Violations At Golf Course, Arena, Student Union
The University of Idaho was fined nearly $15,000 and ordered to evaluate more than a dozen jobs after a federal review found 20 violations of child labor laws and cases where employees may have been underpaid for working overtime.
The U.S. Department of Labor fined the university $14,475 for 20 violations of child labor laws, mostly involving children under the age of 16 working at agricultural research and experiment stations. A halfdozen violations involved under-16 workers at the UI Golf Course, the Kibbie Dome and the Student Union Building.
On school days, employees under 16 can work only a total of 18 hours a week, no more than three hours a day, and only from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Jan Rauk, UI associate director of human resources, said school officials plan to clarify the rules to station managers so more violations don’t occur.
Other than that, she said, “We’re looking into what we might do differently. No decision has been made yet on what that might be, but compliance is our goal.
The labor review, conducted in November and again earlier this month, was prompted by three employees who felt they should not have been declared exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, said Rauk. She said none of the employees had come to Human Resources first.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that workers be paid or given compensatory time at 1 times their hourly rate. Workers exempt from the act receive only their hourly wage for each hour of overtime and receive one comp day for each extra day of work.
The Labor Department concluded the positions of 14 of the university’s 107 “classified exempt workers” should be reevaluated and possibly be given nonexempt status.
Rauk said UI officials will discuss the positions with the Labor Department after they are re-evaluated. She said the university also may appeal part of the child labor fine, claiming that some of the workers fall under less rigid laws governing agricultural work.