Irony alert: A well-known pizza chain whose motto is “Where a kid can be a kid,” was fined for violating the FLSA’s child-labor laws.

Minors at various Chuck E. Cheese locations were acting as adults by using two types of machines that are often the root cause of child-labor violations.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) only adults are allowed to operate trash compactors and dough-mixing machines.

The violations turned up during a routine DOL investigation, of multiple California-based Chuck E. Cheese facilities. Nine branches permitted teenage employees to run trash compactors, and one facility allowed minors to run dough-mixing equipment.

A spokesperson for the DOL said those two types of machines often pop up in child-labor violation probes, according to a report by the Mercury News.

The company was fined more than $28,000. It admitted to the mistake and has since instructed underage employees not to operate the machines. It also applied warning stickers to the equipment indicating that use by minors is prohibited.

Tags: Chuck E. Cheese, dol, fair labor standards act, investigation, violations