Evers Administration Unveils Largest Child Labor Case in State History
Governor’s office highlights sweeping DWD findings against Burger King operator Cave Enterprises.
Burger King at 5120 W. Capitol Dr. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The state’s Department of Workforce Development is ordering the operator of more than 100 Wisconsin-based Burger King restaurants to pay back $237,437 in wages owed to teen employees.
The state concluded that Cave Enterprises carried out more than 1,600 violations of Wisconsin’s child labor and wage laws, affecting more than 600 kids.
Additionally, Cave Enterprises may choose to pay $828,000, which amounts $500 for each of the violations found by DWD, to resolve the matter without having a court determine the total amount of fines owed.
The findings are the “largest determination of child labor and wage payment violations in modern Wisconsin history,” the office of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers wrote in a news release Friday morning.
The DWD sent a determination letter to Cave Enterprises after a two-year investigation that focused on the conditions of young workers from January 2023 to January 2025.
The violations included allowing 14- and 15-year-old employees to start work without a permit, allowing young people to work lengthy shifts without a meal break and allowing employees under 16 to work outside of the hours that are legally permitted for school-age workers, according to the DWD.
“We have a responsibility to make sure kids who are working are protected from exploitation, predatory employer practices, and being subjected to hazardous or illegal working conditions, and that’s a responsibility we must take seriously,” Evers said in a statement Friday. “After years of Republican lawmakers working to get rid of Wisconsin’s basic child labor law protections, I’m proud my administration is working to do the opposite.”
In Wisconsin, workers younger than 16 need a permit to work most types of jobs. In 2024, Evers vetoed a Republican bill that would have nixed those permit requirements for 14- and 15-year-olds.
In the past, Wisconsin has also required a permit for many workers under 18, but Republican then-Gov. Scott Walker signed a law in 2017 that repealed the permit requirements for 17- and 18-year-olds.
The DWD’s Equal Rights Division opened its investigation into Cave Enterprises after a review of department records turned up 33 separate child labor and wage complaints against the company, according to a news release.
Wisconsin accuses Burger King franchise operator of thousands of child labor violations was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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