Walmart has agreed to pay $7.8 million to settle alleged violations of Pennsylvania's Child Labor Act at its stores across the commonwealth, in what state officials called the largest child labor enforcement action in Pennsylvania history. Governor Josh Shapiro's administration announced the settlement on Monday, November 9, after a state investigation that began with reports of teenage workers being injured in Walmart stores.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
The total is made up of $7.68 million in administrative penalties, on top of $142,785 in fines Walmart had already paid during the first stages of the investigation by the state Department of Labor & Industry (L&I). Officials said the combined amount is not only a Pennsylvania record but one of the largest child labor settlements ever secured by a state labor enforcement agency in the United States.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry via PennWatch
How the case began: injured teen workers
L&I's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance began investigating Walmart in February 2025 after receiving referrals from the department's Bureau of Workers' Compensation about minors who had been injured while working at Walmart stores. The injuries described by the department included a dolly falling over and landing on a minor's shoulder, a trip and fall, and a sprained elbow suffered while moving items.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Investigators then conducted 10 audits at eight Walmart locations across Pennsylvania and found an average of 65 Child Labor Act violations per audit. The audited stores included locations in Cranberry Township, Chambersburg, Lancaster, Saint Clair, Greensburg, Etters, Trevose and Butler. After finding what officials described as a pattern of violations, the bureau widened its enforcement from those stores to Walmart locations statewide and pursued a single statewide settlement.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry via PennWatch
What investigators found
The violations identified in the audits were largely about the paperwork, scheduling and supervision rules that Pennsylvania law sets for workers under 18: failing to obtain the work permits required for minor employees; failing to notify school districts when a minor was hired or let go; failing to give minor employees the breaks the law requires; and allowing minors to work more hours than Pennsylvania law permits.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry via PennWatch
The department also drew a line under what the case was not. Investigators did not find minors performing work activities expressly prohibited under Pennsylvania's Child Labor Act at any of the locations investigated, a department spokesperson told the Capital-Star — the violations were about permits, notifications, breaks and hours, not about children being put on banned hazardous jobs.
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
What Walmart must do now
Beyond the money, the settlement requires Walmart to train its managers on Pennsylvania's child labor laws, post workplace notices explaining employee rights, and hand over records on the employment of minors at selected stores six months and one year after the settlement date. Walmart also agreed that if future compliance checks find violations, it will pay an amplified penalty of double L&I's typical fine. State officials said settlement funds will support labor law education, enforcement and compliance work.
Source: Lehigh Valley Business
"Pennsylvania's child labor laws exist to protect our kids, and employers have a responsibility to follow them. When our investigators identified a pattern of violations at Walmart stores, we knew we needed to look beyond those individual locations. Protecting young workers is one of our most important responsibilities, and we take it seriously."
Governor Shapiro made the same point in the administration's statement: "Standing with workers also means making sure they are paid for every penny they are owed and the laws that protect them are followed and upheld. Every employer in Pennsylvania should be on notice: we will not tolerate you taking advantage of our youngest workers." A Walmart spokesperson said the company is pleased to have resolved the matter, adding: "We have processes in place to support compliance with applicable laws, including the paperwork requirements, and we regularly review and improve them."
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Why it matters for working families
Pennsylvania's Child Labor Act sets the guardrails for every job held by a worker under 18 in the state — permits before a teenager starts, limits on hours during the school year, and guaranteed breaks. For the many families, including Punjabi diaspora families across Pennsylvania, whose teenagers work part-time retail jobs after school, this case is a reminder that those rules are enforceable rights, not paperwork formalities: a store that skips a work permit or schedules a minor past the legal hours can face state penalties, and injured young workers can trigger a full audit of a chain. Under the Shapiro administration, L&I says it has investigated more than 2,200 child labor complaints and found violations by hundreds of employers.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry via PennWatch
What happens next
The settlement now moves into its compliance phase. Walmart's first records on minor employees at selected stores are due six months after the settlement date, with a second submission at one year, and any violation found in those checks carries the doubled penalty the company agreed to. Because the agreement covers Walmart stores statewide — not just the eight that were audited — its practical effect will be measured in how the state's largest retail employers handle permits, breaks and hours for teenage staff in the months ahead.