CENTER TWP. — A local gas station's owners are facing federal fines after being accused of intentionally shortchanging their employees.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday morning that the owners of the Sunoco on Old Brodhead Road must pay $281,029 in back wages and liquidated damages after an investigation found the store had intentionally underpaid a married couple who worked at the store. The owners are also forced to pay a $1,762 civil money penalty due to the willfulness of the employer's violations.
“These employers violated the law intentionally and exploited this vulnerable couple,” said John DuMont, Wage and Hour Division District Director for the U.S. Department of Labor's Pittsburgh office. “The Wage and Hour Division will be tireless in its efforts to stem exploitation and hold employers accountable when they shortchange workers by denying them legally earned wages.”
A federal investigation revealed that the employers, Om Shiva Enterprise Inc., Durlabhju Ukani and Bhartiben Ukani, had failed to pay their employees the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Additionally, employees were not properly compensated for overtime work and denied overtime rates when working over 40 hours a week.
The investigation was centered on a married couple who worked at the store. The wife was found to be working over 70 hours a week, commonly without any pay, and the husband had also worked multiple overtime shifts that were unpaid after his scheduled shifts had...
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