Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay the District a $322,400 penalty for violating local child labor laws, the OAG announced Monday.

The settlement is not an admission of guilt and Chipotle continues to deny the allegations, the company says in the Aug. 22 agreement.

The District alleges that Chipotle, which has 20 locations in the city, violated the local child labor laws by allowing people under the age of 18 to work after 10 p.m., and to work more than six consecutive days in a week, according to the settlement agreement. Chipotle allegedly scheduled minors to work more than eight hours per day and 48 hours in a week during a period starting April 2020, according to the Office of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb.

The OAG began to investigate Chipotle’s labor practices in May 2022, after reviewing reports from other states that found Chipotle violated child labor laws. The restaurant company in 2020 agreed to pay Massachusetts $1.37 million for violating child labor laws. Chipotle also reached a $7.7 million settlement with New Jersey in 2022 over allegations of violating child labor laws.

The District identified over 800 potential violations of child labor law at Chipotle locations over the past three years, per the settlement. The company agreed to pay the six-figure penalty to settle the allegations; the payment must be made within 45 days.

“We applaud young people who take the initiative to work in addition to going to school.  But the law limits the hours they can work to ensure they are healthy, well-rested, and able to fulfill their responsibilities as students and to their families,” Schwalb said in a statement.

Chipotle also agreed to implement policies and procedures to ensure compliance with local laws, as well as train restaurant managers and supervisors. Training needs to occur within six months of a hire or promotion, per the settlement. Employees who are minors must also get a copy of the city’s child labor policy and managers must review the policy with new hires under the age of 18 to ensure they understand the rules.

In a statement, Chipotle says it is committed to ensuring its restaurants are in full compliance with laws and regulations, and it is already implementing a new scheduling system.

The company believes that hiring workers beginning at age 16 “can provide younger employees with valuable experiences and an opportunity for advancement,” the company’s chief corporate affairs officer, Laurie Schalow, says in an email. She also named employee benefits for young people, including tuition reimbursement.

The settlement comes as the federal government has also been looking into companies exploiting child labor. The U.S. Department of Labor reports a 69% increase child labor violations from 2018 and 2022.

This post has been updated to include a statement from Chipotle.