Fast Food Outlets Exploited Children

The West:

Three Kalgoorlie fast food outlets have been fined a total of $94,000 after pleading guilty to charges of breaching the law governing the employment of children.

Hungry Jack’s, McDonald’s and Eagle Boys Pizza were all fined in the Perth Industrial Magistrates Court yesterday for a range of offences that included illegally employing children under the age of 13 and not seeking parental permission to employ a child under the age of 15.

The Hungry Jack’s store in Joondalup was also fined for similar breaches of the Children and Community Services Act.

Labour Relations acting director of compliance and education, Joseph Lee, said the charges were disappointing because all the businesses had been informed of the law prior to the incidents occurring.

“Under the Act children under 13 years of age are not permitted to work in such businesses at any time and employers must have written consent of a parent or guardian before employing a child aged less than 15,�? Mr Lee said.

It is also illegal for children between the ages of 13 and 15 to work shifts that start before 6am and finish after 10pm.

Hungry Jack’s was fined a total of $65,000 after pleading guilty to 52 charges.

Twenty five charges related to employing children aged less than 15 years in a total of 167 shifts outside the permitted hours.

They also pleaded guilty to 44 counts of failing to obtain written parental consent.

Hungry Jack’s released a statement today saying it accepted responsibility for the breaches and had regretted the incidents.

In the statement the company said it had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and co-operated fully with investigators.

The company also said it had also taken a number of steps to ensure no such breaches occurred again.