Startup hired teen delivery drivers, feds say. It will cost California firm $140,000
A California-based food delivery startup that hired teen drivers will pay a nearly $140,000 fine for violating federal labor laws, officials reported.
Organic on the Go Inc., operating as Locale in the Silicon Valley near San Jose, hired 78 16- and 17-year-olds to deliver food, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a Sept. 28 news release.
A pamphlet by the agency says 16-year-olds may not drive motorized vehicles on the job, while 17-year-olds may do so under specific conditions and not for timed deliveries.
“Performing time-sensitive deliveries has the potential for an inexperienced driver to get into a car accident and hurt either themselves or somebody else,” Martin Otero, who works with the agency, told The Mercury News. Locale, based in Cupertino, has agreed to stop using teen drivers.
In a statement to the publication, company co-founder Chris Clark said the teen drivers came on board as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When we first started during the pandemic, we were entirely bootstrapped and still working other full-time jobs, while doing our best to keep up with the growth of Locale,” Clark told The Mercury News. “Our friends, family, and other members of our community jumped in to help fulfill orders.”
The Department of Labor said Locale also misclassified the teen drivers as independent contractors, costing them protections including minimum wage.
Locale provides food deliveries from Harry’s Berries, Pizzana, Langer’s Deli, Momofuku, Din Tai Fung and Manresa Bread in California and other venues globally, the agency said.
Since 2015, child labor law violations have increased in the United States, the release said. In fiscal year 2021, the agency fined companies $3.4 million for violations.
Cupertino is a city of 60,000 about 10 miles west of San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Startup hired teen delivery drivers, feds say. It will cost California firm $140,000."