‘It’s confusing’: Restaurant owner fined for child labor violations despite following state law

By Ethan Humble

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    POLK CITY, Iowa (KCCI) — One Iowa restaurant owner fined for child labor violations says he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong.

Jason Schomer, the owner of Buoy’s Waterfront Bar and Grill on Saylorville Lake, said he got a call from the U.S. Department of Labor in July 2023. The caller said a former worker of Schomer’s made the department aware of the restaurant’s hiring of 14- and 15-year-olds.

A department worker went through Schomer’s time sheets.

“They wanted to also go through all of our paperwork, documentation, hiring, paperwork, everything that we could possibly come up with,” Schomer said.

Nearly five months later, he got a letter in the mail. It was a fine of over $1,600 — citing three hours of standards violations for 14- and 15-year-olds.

He paid the fine, but Schomer said he didn’t even realize he was doing anything wrong.

“We understand the labor laws and getting the kids out of here on time, and so none of them work past 9:00 at night,” he said.

However, the Iowa Restaurant Association said Schomer’s fine is far from the only one across the state.

Jessica Dunker, the association’s president and CEO, said there are much larger fines elsewhere.

“I have one situation where a rural Iowa restaurant owner has been fined over $100,000 because they dared to have 15-year-olds work until 9 p.m.,” Dunker said.

It’s largely because the Iowa state child labor laws differ from those at the federal level.

In a law passed last year, Iowa restaurants could have teenagers work later into the night.

It allows 14- and 15-year-olds to work as late as 9 p.m. on school nights and 11 p.m. in the summer.

But at the federal level, the teens must be off the clock by 7 p.m. on school nights and 9 p.m. in the summer — a full two hours earlier.

Now, Dunker said she and the association just want the fines to go away.

“My only goal in my job is to find a way to get those fines to disappear,” she said.

However, for Schomer, it’s making him reconsider getting some much-needed help.

“The only thing that has changed is we’ve contemplated not hiring 14-, 15-year-olds due to that situation,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Labor said in a statement that it has done several investigations resulting in child labor violations in Iowa.

The department also said the problem isn’t unique to Iowa, with similar violations happening in several other states.

Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a statement saying the Iowa law provides “tailored, common sense labor provisions that will allow young adults to develop their skills in the workforce.”

Senator Chuck Grassley also issued a statement saying, “The Department of Labor ought to be working closely with Iowa businesses, not targeting them.”

He said he will write to the labor department to urge improved communication so that Iowa small businesses and families can better navigate the labor laws.

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