A Hyundai parts supplier and a temporary employment agency have been hit with fines from federal court and the Alabama Department of Labor after investigators found workers as young as 13 employed in one factory.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced its action today against SL Alabama, which employs about 650 in the Alexander City area, making headlights, rear combination lights and side mirrors for Hyundai and Kia.

“Our investigation found SL Alabama engaged in oppressive child labor by employing young workers under the minimum age of 14, and by employing minors under 16 in a manufacturing occupation,” Kenneth Stripling, with the U.S. Department of Labor said. “Employers are responsible for knowing who is working in their facilities, ensuring that those individuals are of legal working age, and that their employment complies with all federal, state and local labor laws.”

SL Alabama paid a fine of $30,076 issued by the court.

At the same time, the Alabama Department of Labor announced fines of $17,800 each against SL Alabama and JK USA, an Opelika temporary employment agency.

The action comes following an investigation by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, the Alabama Department of Labor’s Child Labor Enforcement office and the Alabama Attorney General’s office.

According to the Alabama Department of Labor, the investigation found that SL Alabama had employed three minors, aged 13, 15, and 15, violating laws that forbid underage children in manufacturing jobs.

Investigators say all three minors were provided by JK USA, a temporary employment agency, and operated plastic bonding machines at SL Alabama. Two other 16-year-olds were working without appropriate record keeping, and neither SL Alabama nor JK USA had obtained any required Child Labor Certificates for any age group.

According to the investigation, JK USA provided the underage workers to SL Alabama without required documentation, and the minors had not been cleared by E-Verify, the web-based enrollment system.

A Sept. 29 consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama permanently enjoined SL Alabama from violating child labor laws and from shipping any goods produced within 30 days of a child labor violation.

The U.S. Department of Labor in August accused SL Alabama of Alexander City with “employing oppressive child labor” in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

This came a month after Reuters reported that children as young as 12 have been recently employed at SMART Alabama in Luverne, which has supplied parts for Hyundai’s Montgomery plant since 2003.

Alabama Secretary of Labor Fitzgerald Washington called the use of minors “appalling.”

“These businesses violated the law and put these children at risk, and it will not be tolerated in Alabama,” he said. “We will vigorously investigate any business or industry suspected to be participating in this illegal activity.”

The consent judgment also requires SL Alabama to provide training materials and start quarterly child labor training for management and subcontractors for three years, as well as impose sanctions on any management or subcontractors responsible for employing child labor.

“We will continue to take action and use all tools at our disposal to ensure young workers’ safety and well-being is not jeopardized by employers who fail to comply with the law,” Regional Solicitor of Labor Tremelle I. Howard said.