Tyson Foods is under investigation by the Department of Labor for hiring minors at two of its Arkansas poultry processing operations. DOL data indicates that this probe coincides with the highest number of violations of child labor laws in the past decade.
The frequency of child labor law infractions has increased by 35% over the last decade. At the same time, the number of monetary fines imposed by the government on corporations under investigation has increased.
DOL officials have been investigating Tyson Foods factories in Green Forest and Rogers, Arkansas, for employing children under the age of 16, according to recently disclosed federal court filings. Inspector data contain images of reported juveniles entering and exiting Tyson plants.
Investigators have probed several meatpacking companies around the country in recent years for illegally employing children. In 2022, the DOL fined a sanitation business more than a million dollars for hiring over 100 juveniles, some as young as 13, to clean meatpacking at Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and other plants in eight states.