Palm Coast Resort Faces Penalties for Violating Federal Nursing and Child Labor Laws
The establishment is fined $6,810 due to breaches.
- By Robert Yaniz Jr.
- Sep 21, 2023
The Hammock Beach Golf Resort and Spa in Palm Coast, Florida—which employs around 550 individuals—is now in the spotlight for violations concerning federal worker protection laws.
According to a release dated Sept. 18, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) discovered that the resort, which is operated by Aimbridge Employee Service Corp., violated federal child labor regulations by employing minors outside the legally permissible hours. Moreover, Aimbridge failed to provide the necessary accommodations for an employee to express breast milk for her infant, a clear breach of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division launched the investigation, ultimately determining that the resort allowed eight 14- and 15-year-olds to work more than three hours on a school day, more than eight hours on a non-school day, more than 40 hours in a week when school was not in session and past 7 p.m. on school nights. Because of these violations of the FLSA’s child labor laws, the resort is now facing $6,810 in penalties.
The investigation also uncovered that when a worker requested a private place to pump breast milk, resort supervisors took nearly four months to designate a location. This provided space was deficient in privacy, as another employee walked in on the nursing mother. Additionally, the employee was reprimanded in writing for departing the resort without permission after notifying her superiors of her need to express milk.
“Employers who fail to provide break time and a private place as the law requires are creating a barrier for women to balance their career and a child’s needs once they return to work after having a child,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando said in a statement. “Employers must provide nursing mothers a place to pump at work, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public.”
About the Author
Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.