The U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday it has assessed a total of $277,475 in civil money penalties against three movie theatre companies — Marcus Theatres Corp., Regal Cinemas Inc. and Wehrenberg Inc. — for violating child labor laws.

The agency said the companies were fined for allowing teens to perform hazardous jobs and work longer hours than allowed by law. Those are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's youth employment provisions.

The department's Wage and Hour Division said the enforcement resulted from an initiative to curb violations in an industry with a high rate of child labor law noncompliance.