Another Reminder Abut Wage-Hour Compliance
Wal-Mart, which is always in the news anyway, appears to be especially so with regard to Wage-Hour controversies. This time, ABAJournal.com reports that it has reached a $54.3 million dollar settlement over alleged violations involving “off-the-clock” work” (“Wal-Mart Agrees to $54.3 M Settlement of Minn. Wage-Hour Suit”). A couple of prior cases are cited in the article.
This brings up some long-last memories. When I was working for $1.00 an hour minimum wage (a long, long time ago and definitely not for Wal-Mart) it irked me that we had to clean up off the clock. I could have made another $1.00 or at least $0.50 each time. Anyway, it was accepted practice at the time that we would clean up “off the clock” and I never really complained.
As we have before, we won’t directly comment on Wal-Mart’s case because, frankly, we don’t know anything about it. However, ABAJournal.com reports, and all managers and business owners should, again, note that each violation (2,000,000 of them) carried a potential fine of $1,000 and that punitive damages were also on the table.
The best practice for any business, especially small ones without the resources to defend against major claims: be very, very careful about wage-hour compliance.
