BUNKIE, La. (AP) -- The Labor Department has fined a Piggly Wiggly supermarket in central Louisiana nearly $35,000 for allegations the store required teenage employees to perform hazardous jobs.
The department announced Tuesday that it has collected $34,485 in civil penalties from the Bunkie supermarket and its owners, Paul Bellow, Marvin J. Lyons and Sunny Briant Lyons.
The department said its investigation found that 52 employees between the ages of 15 and 17 were required to operate dangerous equipment, such as scrap paper balers, in violation of a federal child labor law.
The supermarket also paid nearly $2,000 in back wages to 26 workers who were required to pay for cash register shortages from their own wages.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
