CHANDLER, MINN. — Monogram Meat Snacks LLC agreed to pay over $140,000 in civil penalties after the US Department of Labor discovered the company employed 11 minors.

The DOL’s investigation, which began in March 2023, found five 17-year-olds, four 16-year-olds and two 15-year-olds were employed at Monogram’s Chandler, Minn., meatpacking and food processing facility. 

The agency noted that nine of the minors operated hazardous machinery.

As a result of the investigation, Monogram was prohibited from shipping snack foods such as beef jerky, cheese and sausage under the “hot goods” provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The employment of children in hazardous occupations cannot be allowed here in the US or in any other nation,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “In this and similar cases, we have put companies that employ children to produce goods illegally on notice that we will stop them from shipping and selling goods produced under the ‘hot goods’ provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

In July, Monogram paid $30,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally employing two underaged workers at the Chandler plant. The company agreed to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions and to hire an outside compliance specialist.

The Chandler plant employs 400 workers and produces meat snacks and sausages. In addition to the Chandler location, parent company Monogram Food Solutions LLC operates facilities in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“Our company has zero tolerance for ineligible underage individuals working at any of our facilities," said a Monogram spokesperson. "As part of the agreement we reached with the Department of Labor relating to our Chandler, Minn., plant, the DOL had an additional 90 days to complete their investigation. We are disappointed to learn that in this period the DOL identified nine former employees of the Chandler plant who were employed in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. We have implemented processes and procedures over the last several years that significantly exceed federal requirements, including no longer employing anyone under the age of 18, and we believe additional enhancements we’ve made will make sure this doesn’t happen again. While this concludes the DOL’s investigation at the facility, we will continue to evaluate and strengthen our procedures.”