The retail giant Walmart has agreed to pay more than $7.8 million in penalties after officials alleged stores across Pennsylvania broke child labor laws by failing to secure work permits, provide required breaks and stick to limits on work hours.
Regulators with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry said their investigation into Walmart’s practices is the biggest child labor enforcement action in the commonwealth’s history and among the largest in the nation.
“Every employer in Pennsylvania should be on notice: We will not tolerate you taking advantage of our youngest workers,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a Nov. 9 statement announcing the settlement agreement.
In a statement, a Walmart spokesperson said the company is glad to resolve the inquiry and has “processes in place to support compliance with applicable laws, including the paperwork requirements, and we regularly review and improve them.”
The state’s labor officials began investigating the retailer in early 2025 in response to reports about minors getting injured on the job, according to the statement. They initially audited eight stores but expanded their probe after finding an average of 65 child labor law violations at each of these select locations, according to state officials.
Investigators cited the stores for failing to gather work permits for minor employees, not communicating with schools when these young people were hired or fired, not giving them required breaks and disregarding legal limits on work hours.
As part of the settlement with state officials, Walmart agreed to add manager training about child labor laws, post notices in the workplace to inform employees about their rights and submit records to the state about minors who work at selected Walmart locations.
The company will have to hand over these records to the state in two installments, at six months and one year from the date of the settlement agreement. If officials find them out of compliance, Walmart will have to pay double the agency’s normal fine for each violation, according to the deal.
The eight stores initially investigated by state officials were
- 20245 Route 19, Cranberry Township;
- 1730 Lincoln Way, Chambersburg;
- 2030 Fruitville Pike, Lancaster;
- 500 Terry Rich Boulevard, Saint Clair;
- 2200 Greengate Centre Circle, Greensburg;
- 50 Newberry Parkway, Etters;
- 3461 Horizon Boulevard, Trevose, and
- 400 Butler Commons, Butler.
