Gas station workers win back pay after Tennessee boss skirts overtime rules, feds say
The employer at a Shell gas station in Tennessee persuaded his workers to sign altered time records to avoid paying them for overtime, federal authorities said.
The U.S. Department of Labor has now recovered $30,005 in back wages, according to a news release.
An investigation from the department’s Wage and Hour Division shows Thirsty Enterprise LLC, the Memphis company that owns the gas station, repeatedly cut workers’ pay short.
Some employees worked more than 80 hours a week, investigators said, but their paychecks showed fewer hours after their employer made them sign modified time records.
Employees were paid in cash for their extra hours at a regular rate — rather than the time-and-a-half required for hours exceeding 40 each week, according to the release.
One of the workers was paid less than the federal minimum wage which, in 2022, is at $11.25 per hour, according to the Department of Labor.
Investigators said the employee was paid a fixed salary for all hours worked, which ended up less than the required minimum wage for each hour worked.
“The employer’s actions violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act,” investigators said.
The Wage and Hour Division “recovered $30,005 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for four workers,” according to the release.
The gas station operator also paid $2,324 as a civil money penalty.
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Gas station workers win back pay after Tennessee boss skirts overtime rules, feds say."
