A Southern Utah electrical contractor has been fined for employing children and violating labor laws. An investigation by the US Labor Department found that children in Hildale were unlawfully employed by Reliance Electric Inc.
Reliance Electric employed five children in Hildale under age 14 in construction, including a 13-year-old who operated a forklift. The company also employed three children on a construction site in Bixby, Oklahoma.
Reliance Electric failed to pay wages to some children, and underpaid fifty-six other employees. The US Labor Department says the company has agreed to pay more than $376,000 in back wages and fines.
Hildale, Utah is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamous sect.