Utah company pays fine for child-labor violations in 7 states, including hiring 13-year-olds

Utah company fined $500,000 for hiring children

OREM, Utah — Federal regulators say a Utah-based company that operates market research call centers has paid $500,000 in civil penalties for child-labor violations.

Investigators say Western Wats Center Inc. hired children as young as 13, and other older children were working longer hours than allowed by law.

The U.S. Department of Labor says Western Wats paid the fines in late December and didn’t dispute violations in the employment of nearly 1,500 teenagers in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The Orem-based company says it settled the complaint amicably and changed procedures to make sure the violations don’t happen again.

Officials said last year the penalty was among the highest of its kind ever assessed against a U.S. company.