Dive Brief:

• Thirsty Enterprise LLC, the operator of a Shell gas station and convenience store in Memphis, Tennessee, shorted workers on their overtime pay by giving them cash bonuses for the work based on a lower rate of pay than what the law requires, according to a March 28 announcement by the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Investigators for the DOL's Wage and Hour Division found that Thirsty paid store cashiers with checks that showed fewer hours than they actually worked. The DOL said the cashiers were asked to sign altered time records and were paid the balance of their hours in cash at straight-time rates, rather than the time-and-one-half rate required by the Fair Labor Standards Act for hours worked more than 40 hours per workweek. Investigators found that some of the cashiers had worked more than 80 hours a week. They also found that Thirsty failed to pay one employee the federal minimum wage. The worker was paid a fixed salary, the DOL said, but the salary amounted to less than the minimum wage for each hour worked.
• Thirsty's actions violated the FLSA's minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions, according to the DOL announcement. The agency recovered $30,005 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for four workers. Thirsty also paid $2,342 in civil penalties. Shell did not respond to a request for a comment before press time.

Dive Insight:

When it comes to overtime pay, there are three common red flags: 1) paying "nonexempt" employees...

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