Over 300 minors found working at 3 McDonald's franchisees: Department of Labor – ABC News

The U.S. Department of Labor fined three McDonald's franchisees after an investigation determined that hundreds of children – including two 10-year-olds – were working there in violation of federal labor law.

The investigation was part of the Wage and Hour Division's efforts to end child labor abuses in the Southeast, the Labor Department said in a news release on Tuesday.

As part of their investigation, officials found that Louisville, Kentucky-based McDonald's franchisee operator, Bauer Food LLC, hired two10-year old's to work at one of its locations-unpaid-and as late as 2 a.m., with one of the children even permitted to operate a deep fryer, a task for which workers must be at least 16 years old.

MORE: Labor Department fines food sanitation contractor $1.5M for child labor violations.

"Below the minimum age for employment, they prepared and distributed food orders, cleaned the store, worked at the drive-thru window and operated a register," the Labor Department said Tuesday.

Under Kentucky's child labor laws, minors younger than 14 years old are not allowed to work.

The Department of Labor fined the businesses $212,544 in civil money penalties.

According to federal child labor rules, there are certain types of jobs that minors can work.

They also can't work over 18 hours during a school week, and can't work before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., except between June 1 and Labor Day, the Labor Department said.

Archways Richwood LLC, Bauer Food LLC, and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC were in violation of having minors working hours beyond the legal limits, according to the Department of Labor.

According to Garnett-Civils, there has been an uptick in federal child labor violations, including instances where minors are operating equipment or doing dangerous work.

Following the investigation, the Biden Administration insisted last month that U.S. meat companies and suppliers ensure that minors aren't illegally hired to work dangerous jobs at their plants, according to the AP. "One child injured at work is one too many. Child labor laws exist to ensure that when young people work, the job does not jeopardize their health, well-being or education," Garnett-Civils said.