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Plastics Manufacturer Fined Over Child Labor Violations

The company also failed to properly pay overtime to dozens of workers.

One of North America’s largest manufacturers of plastic pipe paid more than $6,000 for violations of federal child labor law.

Federal officials began investigating WL Plastics after a 17-year-old worker at a Pennsylvania plant suffered a minor injury.

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The Labor Department’s probe found that the company had allowed the employee to operate a forklift. Forklifts are classified by federal law as hazardous equipment for workers under age 18.

The investigation also discovered that WL failed to include safety bonuses in wage calculations, violating overtime pay requirements.

The company paid more than $10,000 in back wages and damages to 60 workers.

WL, based in Fort Worth, Texas, makes solid wall polyethylene pipe products used in the industrial, energy and municipal water sectors.

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