The owner of Burger King restaurants in Platteville and Monroe is being accused of violations of state child labor laws by a state agency.
Cave Enterprises Operations LLC of Chicago, owner of Burger King franchises in eight states including 14 in Wisconsin, is accused by the Department of Workforce Development of more than 1,656 violations of child labor and wage payment laws against more than 600 minors over two years through January 2025.
Cave Enterprises owns the Burger Kings at 1770 Progressive Parkway in Platteville and 548 Eighth Ave. in Monroe, plus Freeport, Ill., according to its website.
The news release Friday from Gov. Tony Evers’ office said the violations are “the largest determination of child labor and wage payment violations in modern Wisconsin history.”
According to DWD in the news release, Cave Enterprises owes $237,437 in unpaid regular wages, overtime wages and penalty wages to the minor employees and must “immediately come into compliance” with state Employment of Minors laws and regulations that were violated.
The letter from DWD to Cave, sent Thursday, sets a deadline of Feb. 25 to send checks for each employee who was the object of the alleged violations to DWD.
DWD’s Equal Rights Division began investigating after receiving 33 child labor and wage payment complaints between 2020 and 2023. A DWD review from Jan. 1, 2023 to Jan. 25, 2025 found that Cave violated state child labor laws “at least” 1,656 times.
The news release said 593 14- and 15-year-old employees were allowed to begin work without child labor permits, and 627 employees younger than 18 worked shifts of six hours or longer without mandated meal breaks. “Hundreds” of employees younger than 16 worked before or after allowed hours or worked more hours than school-age workers are allowed, according to the news release.
DWD communications director Haley McCoy said 103 violations were found at Cave’s Wisconsin Burger Kings, including two employees younger than 16 working without a permit and seven with meal or break violations in Platteville, and three minors without permits and two with meal or break violations in Monroe.
A DWD letter to Cave said Cave employed 1,393 minors in Wisconsin from 2023 to 2025. The letter said 593 14- and 15-year-olds started working without work permits, with one at a Green Bay Burger King starting work aged 13. The letter also said 627 minor employees worked at least one six-hour shift without a break, and “multiple” employees got unpaid breaks of fewer than 30 minutes in which they were not free to leave work.
State law sets a minimum age of 14 to work in a restaurant, and requires work permits for 14- and 15-year-olds. State law requires a 30-minute break during shifts of six or more consecutive hours for workers younger than 18.
The fines and penalty payments are based on pay for unpaid breaks, pay for owed overtime at 1.5 times employee pay, and double employee pay for all work if an employee works more than 10 hours a day or 40 hours per week.
Fox Business reported that DHS is also seeking additional civil penalties of up to $500 per violation, totaling up to $828,000. Fox Business reported that DHS offered to not go to court if Cave paid the due wages and civil penalties within 20 days.
Cave Enterprises did not return an email from The Journal seeking comment.