Casa Grande call center used illegal child labor, U.S. alleges

[Ptah]

Source: Arizona Daily Star, Deseret News, Yahoo Business News

SALT LAKE CITY — Children as young as 13 were manning phone banks
for a company that does market research and political surveys from call
centers in seven states, including Arizona, federal investigators said Tuesday.

Children that young can’t legally be employed except on farms.

Some of the violations took place at Western Wats’ call center in Casa Grande,
the Labor Department alleges.

The U.S. Department of Labor fined Orem, Utah-based Western Wats for
hiring three 13-year-olds, and for working an additional 1,479 children more
than three hours on a school day or more than eight hours on a weekend day,
among other violations. Those children were all 14 or 15 years old.

Read more: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/311126.php

---

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705333266/Orem-co-appeals-child-labor-penalty.html


An Orem-based market-research company is appealing one of the
largest civil penalties ever assessed by the U.S. Department of Labor
for alleged violations of child-labor rules.

The department's Wage and Hour Division on Tuesday said that
Western Wats Center Inc., a market-research company with offices in Utah
and six other states, must pay a whopping $552,750 in civil penalties.
That's "among the highest ever assessed by the department," said Lee Ann Dunbar,
director of the department's Salt Lake Wage and Hour Division office, which conducted the investigation.

The department says the company violated child-labor provisions by
employing 1,482 minors and not following the rules on wages and how many hours
youthful employees are allowed to work. Three of the employees were 13; the rest were 14 and 15.


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http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/131/131615.html


Western Wats Company Profile

Western Wats wrangles information for its clients. The data collection firm
provides the raw information that is the basis for market research and insight
on such topics as concept testing, satisfaction measurement, market segmentation,
and product development. Specializing in quantitative research data,
Western Wats conducts surveys and collects information using telephone
interviews (administered by real interviewers or an interactive voice response system)
as well as online surveys for such industries as telecommunications, retail, health care,
and high technology. Western Wats began collecting data in 1987.

[KoKo]

1. Oh My...this is totally bizarre.. Who would have thought?

and are there others out there using kids to telemarket?

[Ptah]

3. "Children that young can’t legally be employed except on farms."

[zelta gaisma]

13. answering a phone is...............

SOOO much more dangerous than handling livestock,farm machines and working (possibly) sun up to sun down.
if my kid wanted to work at 13 (she's still a pre-teen) answering phones I'd say sure as long as it doesn't mess with your grades

[Mnpaul]

21. Handling dangerous livestock and operating tractors is forbidden

Child labor laws
http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/fact1.htm

[Alameda]

2. Really disgusting!

[Ptah]

5. Should young teens be able to earn?

[EFerrari]

17. I did filing at that age in a flower shop. But on the other hand,

I was lucky that there was no abuse sob in the shop because I wouldn't have known what to do.

[Downwinder]

4. Will this deny them access to government funds

under the ACORN Law?

[defendandprotect]

6. Yes. . . GOP will bring back child labor . . . they've been at that for decades . ..

[Ptah]

7. How young is too young?

I contributed to my parents farm when I was 12.

[Frosty cupcake]

8. Which is why

farms are exempt.

[Ptah]

9. Why shouldn't city kids be able to work?

:shrug:

[mrbarber]

10. Because there expected to attend school so that they can become functioning members of society.

[Ptah]

11. If they are earning a living wage then they are functioning members of society.

[defendandprotect]

16. Not if they get ill because of it -- have you never read anything of child labor

all over the world?

[Ptah]

12. If they re earning a wage aren't they functioning members of society

[defendandprotect]

18. Also remember that exploitation when permitted only increases . . .

and that's what capitalism and patriarchy are based on -- EXPLOITATION --

not only of nature and natural resources, but of animal-life -- and even other

human beings according to various myths of "inferiority."

[defendandprotect]

15. Because their bodies are more fragile under 16/18 --

ever see kids pushing those long trains of shopping carts?

And, remember, most of our clerks are standing all the time now -- in department

stores and at check-outs -- they used to have chairs to sit on when they weren't

waiting on customers.

Now, sales clerks are doing the heavy unloading of clothing and dragging large lots

of clothing around on those big clothing racks. Much of these jobs used to be separated.

Cleaning crews -- not sales clerks dusting!

Ah, unions!

[marybourg]

20. They can. they can deliver papers, run errands and babysit.

at 13. At 14 they can do more commercialized work for shortened days. These child labor laws were passed in response to horrible abuses which existed in our society until the 1920's and even later. Google "child labor laws".

[defendandprotect]

14. Which is why family farms are excluded . . .

[Hubert Flottz]

19. RE: "SALT LAKE CITY"

I guess if a kid is old enough to get married at 13 they would be old enough to get a job too.

[thelordofhell]

22. Well at least they didn't get raped by Roman Polanski

:shrug: