Toys R Us Slapped With $200,000 Fine for Hundreds of Child Labor Violations

Toys R Us will pay a $200,000 fine and institute new safeguards in all its stores after inspections turned up some violations of child labor laws, the Department of Labor said Wednesday.

“We found more than 300 young Toys R Us employees working more hours and later into the night than allowed by law,” said Labor Secretary Alexis Herman.

The violations involved 14- and 15-year-olds who stock shelves, operate cash registers and clean at 19 New England Toys R Us stores, most of them in Massachusetts.

A spokeswoman for the national toy store chain, based in Paramus, N.J., said it has already taken steps to correct the problems, which she said were the result of misunderstandings of the law by some managers.

Federal child labor laws restrict the employment of 14- and 15-year-olds, limiting the kinds of jobs they can do and the number of hours and time of day they can work.

Toys R Us shares fell 6 cents to close at $17.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.