Child installing Christmas lights falls from roof, feds say. Michigan employer fined

A Michigan window cleaning company accused of giving its child employees “dangerous tasks” is now facing a federal fine, officials say.

Absolutely Cleaning Services, based out of Grand Rapids, was ordered to pay $29,210 for employing three kids to clean windows and gutters and install Christmas lights, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which said the employer was in violation of child labor laws.

One of the children installing Christmas lights needed surgery after falling from a roof, federal officials said.

“A child was injured while working a dangerous job for which they never should have been hired,” Mary O’Rourke, the district director for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Grand Rapids, said in a Nov. 12 news release. “There is no excuse for violating the law and putting children at risk.”

McClatchy News reached out to Absolutely Cleaning Services on Nov. 13 and is awaiting a response.

The Department of Labor said two of the children, whose ages were not disclosed, were tasked with operating a vehicle that weighed more than 6,000 pounds as part of their job.

As authorities investigated the company, they learned management was not keeping “accurate employee records, including the birth date of at least one child,” federal officials said.

It’s not the first time Absolutely Cleaning Services has been in violation with the Department of Labor. Earlier this year, the company was found to have violated overtime rules and was ordered to pay $36,532 to employees, officials said.

Following its latest penalty, the company has paid $14,605 and must pay the remaining balance by Jan. 6, 2025, officials said. It also has been ordered to train supervisors on tasks prohibited for children to perform while working.

“Employers have no business employing minors to work on roofs or drive cars on public roads,” Christine Z. Heri, the department’s regional solicitor in Chicago, said in the news release.