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TWC commissioners debate penalty for minors using small trash compactors in Case 25BL00869
Summary
At a Texas Workforce Commission meeting, commissioners debated whether a $1,281.25 penalty in child labor case 25BL00869 should be reduced to a warning and whether the agency or federal guidance had misled the employer; commissioners asked the Office of General Counsel for guidance and discussed rehearing to clarify legislative intent.
The Texas Workforce Commission on docketed case 25BL00869 debated whether a monetary penalty should be upheld after three minors unloaded small consumer-grade trash compactors at a restaurant.
The discussion centered on competing views of safety, statutory clarity and agency handling. "The child labor appeal tribunal decision may not be supportable based on the current record in the case," Commissioner McClure Flood said, adding that while child safety is the top priority, a monetary penalty might not be the best resolution. "Once the employer found out that the regulations did not, in fact, change as DOL had signaled, the company stopped letting minors use the small compactors at all," he said, and said his vote was to seek guidance from the Office of General Counsel.
Commissioner Elsner took the opposite view, arguing the factual record was undisputed and that the child labor protections do not distinguish among types of compactors. "The decision is supportable," Elsner said. "Affirm the special programs appeal decision penalty of $1,281.25."
Commissioners also criticized aspects of TWC’s handling of the case. One commissioner described the preliminary determination order as providing an incorrect penalty that was never corrected and said the record and the law were "murky," urging a rehearing to develop evidence about legislative intent and the line between operating and maintaining a compactor.
The transcript shows commissioners discussed asking OGC whether a first-time violation in these circumstances could be reduced to a warning rather than a fine and discussed rehearing the case to develop the record. The transcript does not contain a clear, final roll-call result for affirming, rescinding, or modifying the penalty; the record shows support for seeking OGC guidance and for rehearing to clarify statutory intent.
Case number: 25BL00869. Alleged violation: minors under 18 operated/handled small consumer-grade trash compactors at employer direction; contested penalty: $1,281.25.
The commission’s discussion included references to guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor and to TWC procedures; commissioners asked that the Office of General Counsel review whether the penalty for a first-time violation in this factual posture could be reduced to a warning and whether a rehearing should be granted to explore legislative intent.
No formal disposition (affirmed, reversed, modified) is recorded in the transcript excerpt provided; commissioners recorded both a vote to seek legal guidance and statements supporting affirmation of the penalty.
