Three Northern New Jersey supermarkets have paid more than $1.8 million in back wages and damages after the Department of Labor found the employers deliberately failed to pay required overtime rates to 226 employees who worked overtime at stores in Hackensack, Oakland and Waldwick, New Jersey.
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the pay practices of the supermarkets violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Specifically, investigators determined the employers did the following:
- Paid some employees a day rate or salary, without any overtime pay for hours over 40.
- Paid other employees in checks for their first 40 hours, and cash for hours over 40, without any required overtime pay.
- Failed to include non-discretionary bonuses into the regular rate of pay, which is necessary when calculating overtime rates.
- Deducted breaks of less than 20 minutes from employees’ hours worked.
The Department of Labor’s investigation led to the recovery of $917,455 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages and prompted the department to assess $80,428 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the violations.The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the required rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
If you believe you are victim of wage theft, please contact the attorneys at Pechman Law Group at 212-583-9500. We have recovered over 20 million dollars on behalf of workers who have been cheated out of their overtime or have been subjected to other unlawful pay practices.
