Grocery Store to Pay Up Following Department of Labor Investigation
After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), El Grande Supermarket of Tampa Florida will pay $198,039 in back wages and damages to 17 employees. This is a sizable payout in light of the small number of employees!
The DOL’s Wage & Hour Division found that the store violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Investigators determined the store paid one employee a fixed salary irrespective of how many hours the employee actually worked and paid overtime-eligible employees straight time (rather than time and a half) when they worked over 40 hours per week. The store also violated recordkeeping provisions when it failed to record cash payments to workers and maintain other required payroll records.
If you are an employee with concerns about denial of overtime, misclassification of your position, or unpaid wages, please give us a call. In addition to your rights under the FLSA, state law protections may be also be available.1 We are here to help.
Written by Jill L. Walsh, Esq.
1Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, 43 P.S. § 333.101 et seq., Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law, 43 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 260.1 et seq., New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a et seq., and New Jersey Wage Payment Law, N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.1 et seq.