TikTok Is Confused Over A Literal Child Working At Chick-Fil-A
In the U.S., we're pretty used to seeing minors working at fast-food restaurants. After all, 30% of the fast food industry's workers are between the ages of 16 and 19, per the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
That being said, it's a different story when the workers are clearly younger than 16. Such was the case when TikTok user Slimtuni visited his local Chick-fil-A, only to discover a 13-year-old employee. Rightfully concerned, the TikToker asked if that was even allowed, to which the employee responded that his dad owns the store.
Federal labor laws do indeed state that kids as young as 12 can work if their parents own the business themselves. However, employees under the age of 16 are restricted as to what tasks they can complete. For instance, a 13-year-old employee is not allowed to handle grills, fryers, or knives, but he could work at a register.
Chick-fil-A's youngest worker is 'gonna be manager at 16'
After Slimtuni shared his bewilderment over the 13-year-old working for his dad at Chick-fil-A, TikTok users were surprisingly cool about the situation. Rather than get up in arms about child labor law violations — which we would expect from TikTok — people simply hyped up the employee for his work ethic. One person commented, "Lil man gonna be manager at 16," while another said, "By 18 he got $100k saved, goals." Given his age and how much Chick-fil-A workers make, it's very possible he could save up that kind of money.
Even though this particular employee's job may be backed up by his dad owning the store, other Chick-fil-A locations have had their fair share of child labor laws violations. In 2022, a North Carolina Chick-fil-A was fined after asking minors to work in hazardous conditions, and a Florida Chick-fil-A was fined for violating laws pertaining to how many hours minors can work during school. Granted, neither of these was on as big a scale as the Crumbl Cookies child labor violations, but they're bad nonetheless.