GREELEY • The nation’s largest meat packing processor, JBS USA Food Co., which is one of Colorado’s best-known employers, has agreed to pay $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices nationwide.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the agreement to address child labor violations by JBS through a release on Jan. 13.

Headquartered in Greeley, JBS employs 65,000 team members at various facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to the company’s website.

The U.S. Department of Labor stated in its release that “(u)nder this agreement, JBS USA Food Co. has adopted creative and forward-thinking compliance measures to combat illegal child labor.”

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Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman added that “JBS has taken responsibility for children performing dangerous work at its facilities by proposing concrete and enforceable solutions to address those issues, setting the standard as a market leader in preventing illegal youth employment.”

The agreement follows a 2022 investigation by the DOL that found JBS’ third-party contractor Packer Sanitation Services Inc. had illegally employed 102 children, ages 13-17 years.

HR Drive, a Human Resources digital publication that provides news and analysis for human resource executives, reported that more than half of those children were found working in JBS plants in Greeley; Grand Island, Neb.; and Worthington, Minn.

The report noted that the minors “worked in ‘hazardous occupations,’ including cleaning meat processing equipment like back saws, brisket saws and head splitters” during overnight shifts at JBS company facilities.

As of Friday afternoon, multiple requests for comment from JBS officials were unreturned.

Details of the agreement highlight that the $4 million funded by JBS will help combat illegal child labor practices and support victims of child labor throughout the U.S. with JBS prioritizing its efforts in the above-mentioned communities and in Guntersville, Ala. and Ottumwa, Iowa.

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The agreement also calls on JBS to do the following:

• Host or sponsor a symposium focused on preventing illegal child labor for industry leaders, nonprofits and other interested parties committed to combating unlawful child labor.

• Hire a child labor compliance specialist to review policies, develop training materials and conduct unannounced audits.

• Maintain a toll-free ethics hotline for the anonymous reporting of compliance concerns.

• Incorporate a zero-tolerance policy in any contract agreements with third-party sanitation firms or poultry catching service providers.

• Notify the department when contracts have been terminated because of child labor violations.

• Conduct community outreach to educate communities about the prohibitions on child labor at meat packing establishments.

• Create targeted advertising campaigns to raise awareness about unlawful child labor in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

• Require nationwide training on prevention of illegal child labor to all third-party sanitation employers at JBS facilities and all JBS employees at meat packing establishments.

“Host companies like JBS have enormous leverage to help prevent child labor in their supply chains and even more broadly in the industry,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “With this agreement, JBS USA Food Co. is taking significant steps to ensure children are not put in harm’s way at its facilities or by its contractors.”

JBS USA is a is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA in Brazil, the world’s largest processor of fresh beef and pork, with more than $50 billion in annual sales.

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