SAM Magazine—Manchester, N.H., Aug. 27, 2018—The Fairbank Group labor audit and subsequent recent publicity appear to indicate a heightened focus on child labor laws. That’s noteworthy, as it coincides with historically tight labor markets nationwide and uncertainty over the status of J-1 and H-2b foreign worker visas in the Trump administration.

To recap the AP story, which appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, a U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) audit of resort records from February 2016 to March 2018 found that some 14- and 15-year-olds employed at the Fairbank Group’s Jiminy Peak, Mass., Cranmore, N.H., and Bromley , Vt., worked outside of the hours restrictions for that age group, as proscribed in the Fair Labor Standard Act’s child labor provisions. Some youths worked more than 8 hours on non-school days, past 7 p.m. during the school year, or more than 3 hours on school days; others worked more than 18 hours during a school week—all in excess of what the law allows.

The Fairbank Group agreed to ensure future compliance at the three resorts. Specifically, the Group agreed to train supervisors and instruct minors on child labor requirements, use time clock software to ensure minors’ work hours stay within FLSA limits, help supervisors better identify minors, and to appoint compliance directors to oversee minors’ employment at each resort. The company has also paid a $21,582 penalty.

In a press release that was the basis for the AP article, the DOL was quite complimentary about the Fairbank Group. “This agreement demonstrates the Fairbank Group’s commitment to provide a safe and healthy on-the-job experience for the hundreds of young workers employed at its resorts,” said WHD Northern New England District Director Daniel Cronin.

“We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance and to make use of the many tools we provide to help them understand the child labor and other laws and avoid violations,” added WHD District Director Carlos Matos.

While labor audits are not rare for ski areas, the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to single out the Fairbank Group was. That and the relatively minor infractions suggest this audit was, in part, a means for the DOL to alert employers to be sure to follow the letter of the law while employing minors, and in part, a call to employers to be as proactive in this regard as Fairbank Group.

A SAM request for clarification on these points was met with non-answers from the DOL, so everyone—including the Fairbank Group—can only speculate on those possibilities.

We plan to dive deeper into the subject of DOL audits and labor laws in a future article in SAM Magazine. Stay tuned.