• Company to be given 15 days ADVANCE Notice before Government will Investigate Labor Violations
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Federal investigators will review a $135,540 settlement the government reached with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world's biggest retailer, over accusations that the company violated child labor laws. The investigation was sought by Rep. George Miller. The California Democrat had criticized the deal made public Feb. 12 because it provided that Wal-Mart would receive 15 days notice in most cases before the Labor Department investigated employee complaints of wage and hour violations. Miller, the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the two-week window could give Wal-Mart a chance to sweep violations under the rug. "We plan to review the circumstances surrounding this agreement," Labor Department Inspector General Gordon S. Heddell wrote in a letter to Miller. The congressman's office released the letter Friday. The letter didn't offer details on the scope or timing of the review. The alleged violations, at 25 stores in Arkansas, Connecticut and New Hampshire between 1998 and 2002, had to do with teenage workers who used hazardous equipment such as chain saws, paper balers or forklifts. One case in New Hampshire involved a youth who is alleged to have been using a chain saw to trim Christmas trees. A majority of the cases in Connecticut involved allegations of children loading paper balers. Child labor laws prohibit anyone under 18 from operating hazardous equipment. Wal-Mart denied the allegations but agreed to pay the penalty. [more]

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