Three of San Antonio-based La Panadería Bakery Café’s locations violated child labor protections along with minimum wage and overtime pay requirements, resulting in $45,000 in fines and back wages, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
In a statement released Tuesday, Labor Department officials said the agency’s Wage and Hour Division investigated Tequila Almond Croissant LLC, Pan Dulce LLC and SA Bakery Co. LLC, all which all do business as separate La Panadería stores around San Antonio. In respective order, those businesses are located at 301 E. Houston St., 17030 Fiesta Texas Drive and 8305 Broadway.
In a statement supplied to TV station KSAT-12, La Panadería officials said the feds’ accusations stem from 2024 and the business has addressed the underlying issues.
“La Panadería has taken meaningful steps to strengthen our organization by working with experienced labor and human resources consultants and enhancing our internal policies, training, and compliance practices. We continue to provide meaningful careers to our workforce in excess of the standards set by law,” the statement said.
The Labor Department said it assessed the La Panadería locations with a $25,706 fine for violating federal child labor law by employing a 13-year-old and allowing a 15-year-old to work an overnight shift. Federal regulations prohibit 14- and 15-year-olds from working overnight.
“The allegations of child labor law violations were investigated and found to be the result of circumstances outside of management’s knowledge,” La Panadería said in the statement given to KSAT. “The minors referenced in the Department of Labor’s violations were two minors accompanying their parents to work without leadership’s knowledge or approval. We do not hire minors under the legal working age, and the two minors identified were not on our payroll.”
The investigation also turned up minimum wage violations due to La Panadería’s failure to pay one worker for two overnight shifts at its Fiesta Texas Drive store, according to federal officials. The feds also accused the businesses of combining hours for staff who worked at multiple locations and paying them regular rates instead of the required time-and-one-half overtime.
The remainder of the Labor Department’s penalty required the repayment of roughly $19,000 in back wages, according to department officials.
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