Fast food’s child labor crisis: a path to modern slavery

Children as young as ten-year-olds are manning fryers, scrubbing greasy floors late into the night, and working shifts so long they fall asleep in class. It’s illegal. It’s exploitative. And it’s happening right now in America’s fast-food chains.

This is more than just “child labor“—it’s a path toward modern slavery 

Child labor includes any work that children are too young to perform or risks harming their health, safety, or morals. Manning hot oil and sharp equipment is dangerous. Working long and late harms their development. For migrant children, their vulnerability makes it all too easy for them to be threatened and coerced. We are just a small step away from the worst forms of child labor—child slavery.  

In some of the country’s biggest fast-food companies—McDonald’s, Jersey Mike’s, Sonic, Baskin Robbins, and Chick-fil-A—children are being placed in hazardous work environments. They operate fryers, meat slicers, and trash compactors, or work late into the night. This is not permitted “light work” under international standards. It is child labor that we must stop and prevent from sliding into child slavery. 

McDonald’s  

• McDonald’s had more than 2,300 child labor violations at more than 13,000 restaurants since 2013.   

• One franchise operator employed 24 minors under age 16 to work more than legally permitted hours, including two 10-year-old children who were not paid, and sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m.   

• Another franchise operator allowed 242 minors between age 14 and 15 to work beyond the allowable hours. The Department of Labor fined the employer with $143,566 in penalties for the violations.  

Baskin-Robbins  

• Baskin-Robbins locations across Utah violated federal law by allowing 64 minor employees, ages 14- to 15-years-old, to work too late in the day and too many hours in a week while school was in session. 

Sonic Drive-In  

• An Atlanta-based private equity firm that operates 60 Sonic Drive-In locations, including eight in South Carolina employed 36 children, ages 14 and 15, to work illegally. 

• Another operator with locations in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia employed 55 children, ages 14 and 15, to work outside of legally allowed hours. 

• Six Nevada locations illegally employed 14- and 15-year-old teenagers to work beyond allowable hours, and assigned them to operate manual deep fryers, a task considered a hazardous occupation.

Chick-fil-A  

• In Utah, investigators determined two franchises illegally employed 237 minors, allowing 14- and 15-year-old employees to work past permitted hours, and for too many hours in a day. 

• Investigators found a North Carolina operator allowed three workers under the age of 18 to either operate, load or unload trash compactors, all violations of federal child labor regulations that prohibit employing minors to perform hazardous jobs. 

Jersey Mike’s Subs  

• In Northern Virginia, four locations employed more than a dozen employees under the age of 16 to perform dangerous tasks and work longer than permitted in violation of federal child labor regulations. 

• In four different locations in South Carolina, a franchise allowed 14 minor-aged children to operate power-driven meat slicers, a hazardous occupation under federal law. That same franchise operator also had children working longer hours than allowed.   

Trapped in unsafe, grueling jobs 

These are not isolated incidents—they reflect a growing crisis of exploitative child labor across the US, fueled by weakening protections and corporate neglect. Children are increasingly pushed into hazardous work, from operating industrial fryers to handling dangerous equipment, where one mistake can cause lifelong injury. 

While many of these cases may not yet meet the legal definition of modern slavery, they mark a dangerous erosion of safeguards that brings us closer to it. For migrant children, who often face the threat of dismissal, retaliation, or deportation, the line between exploitation and modern slavery is already dangerously blurred. 

Child labor violations have surged 283% in just seven years. This is not simply a workplace issue — it is a warning sign that without urgent action, the US risks widespread modern slavery of migrant children.

Without meaningful oversight, children remain trapped in unsafe jobs while billion-dollar companies look the other way. 

We cannot allow profit to justify the path towards modern slavery 

No one wants their meal served by the hands of exploited children. Customers expect these billion-dollar brands to uphold the law and protect children, not mislead the public while profiting from abuse. 

Tell McDonald’s, Jersey Mike’s, Sonic, Baskin Robbins, and Chick-fil-A: Stop profiting from the exploitation of children! 

Children belong in school—not in fast-food restaurants risking burns, exhaustion, and lost futures.