A federal judge has come down against a nationwide cleaning company accused of putting kids to work in dangerous graveyard shifts in two Nebraska meatpacking plants and at least three others in Minnesota and Arkansan.

Packers Sanitation Services has been ordered to ensure it is complying with child labor laws, after federal investigators said the company hired a 13-year-old and dozens of other children between the ages of 14 and 17 to clean “power-driven machines” including “bone-cutting saws.”

Initially the JBS plant in Grand Island was named as one of the plants where PSSI was operating illegally, and the Associated Press now reports that Greater Omaha Packing Company is also on the list.

AP also reports that PSSI has agreed to fire any underage workers identified by the Labor Department or the company and sanction any managers involved in hiring them.

This was the company’s original statement when the Labor Department first filed suit against PSSI last month:

PSSI has an absolute company-wide prohibition against the employment of anyone under the age of 18 and zero tolerance for any violation of that policy -- period.

PSSI has industry-leading, best-in-class procedures to confirm the identities of its employees -- including mandatory use of the Government's E-verify system for new hires, as well as extensive training, document verification, biometrics, and multiple layers of audits.  While rogue individuals could of course seek to engage in fraud or identity theft, we are confident in our company's strict compliance policies and will defend ourselves vigorously against these claims.

We are also surprised the DOL has taken this action given PSSI’s Corporate office has been cooperating with their inquiry, producing extensive documents and responses. PSSI also worked with the DOL recently and successfully completed multiple audits with the agency that found no issues. PSSI will continue to cooperate with the DOL and will continue to enforce its absolute prohibition against employing anyone under the age of 18.