Wal-Mart paying $4.8M for overtime violations

[KansDem]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to more than 4,500 employees nationwide for unpaid overtime, The Labor Department said Tuesday.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company also will pay nearly $464,000 in civil penalties for violating federal overtime laws.

The violations cover current and former managers at Wal-Mart vision centers and certain security personnel at Wal-Mart Discount Stores, Wal-Mart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam's Club warehouses.

The Labor Department said the company improperly considered the workers to be exempt from overtime pay.

Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said the company took the allegations seriously when they were first raised in 2007 and immediately corrected the way it classified the employees.

"We adjusted our pay practices at that time and determined that back wages should be paid for the associates involved," Rossiter said.

Nancy Leppink, head of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, said she hoped the case would put other employers on notice that they can't avoid paying overtime by improperly classifying their workers as exempt.

http://www.kshb.com/dpp/money/business_news/wal-mart-paying-48m-for-overtime-violations

I can't believe this corporation, established in 1962, got the classification of it workers "wrong." More likely they did this to swindle the workers out of pay knowing that, if caught, they would pay a small fine as "the cost of doing business." $4.8M is pocket change for the Walton billionaires...

[LynneSin]

1. Isn't there like a million people who work at Wal-mart

so basically it's $4.80 per person?

And the Wal-mart owners are worth billions

Go figure

[thelordofhell]

4. It's about 5,000 workers that filed the class action

They'll get a little under 900 per person. But then the lawyers will probably get 2/3 of that, so the real total will be around 300 per person. Whew......Wal-Mart will never do THAT again!!

[madokie]

2. No telling how much they pocketed by not paying overtime though

Obvious for anyone who cares to see they do not and I repeat do not care for their employees. Sorriest bunch to come down the pike yet.

[Prism]

3. They're full of illegal practices

I worked as an overnight stocker at Sam's Club when I was in college. We'd be locked in all night with no one to open the door. When the managers arrived in the morning, if they saw something they wanted done, they'd tell us to go clock out and then come back and do it.

Yes, they felt they were in a position to make their employees work unpaid, because no one - absolutely no one - was getting overtime.

Suffice to say, I did not last long there. One day, a manager tried to get me to stay unpaid for so long, I was going to be late for an exam that morning. He threatened me (an unpaid worker) about the consequences if I didn't stay another hour. I told him where to stick it, walked out, and never went back.

Just awful.

[laundry_queen]

5. I worked at a place

that expected me to come in 20 min early to set up the store, and stay 30 minutes after the store closed to get all the customers out, cash out, clean up the store/displays etc. I was only being paid for the amount of time the store was open and was being paid for 44 hrs/week (our o/t limit) even though I was working an extra 50 min/day. I knew it was wrong, so I kept track. I knew they were getting angry with me because there were other violations I had pointed out (paying me less because I was female) and I anticipated them finding a reason to lay me off. When they did, I showed them the 10 months of meticulously tracked OT hours I had logged, and I cited the specific clause in the labour laws here that said what they were doing was illegal.

They paid me all of the back pay immediately. They REALLY wanted to be rid of me, lol. And because they didn't want me coming back on THEM, they 'laid me off' instead of 'firing me' so I could get unemployment. They knew if they fired me, I'd be reporting them. They even offered to write me a letter of recommendation, lol.

This is why labour laws are SO important! I would NEVER live in a right-to-work state if I could help it (so thankful I'm in Canada).