U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Maine Grocery Store Paying $92,055 in Back Wages and Damages to 69 Employees

MANCHESTER, N.H. – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), H.B. Provisions Inc. – a grocery store based in Kennebunk, Maine – has paid $92,055 in back wages and liquidated damages to 69 employees for violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer has also paid $20,752 in civil money penalties.

WHD investigators determined that H.B. Provisions violated FLSA overtime requirements when it paid workers straight-time rates, in cash, and off the books, for any hours they worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The law requires employers to pay for overtime hours at one-and-one-half times employees’ regular rates of pay. The employer also failed to record the overtime hours in their time records. The affected employees worked as cooks, cashiers, stockers, bakers, and non-exempt managers. In addition to the back wages and damages found due, WHD assessed the civil money penalty due to the willful nature of the violation.

"Ensuring that employers pay employees fully and correctly for all the hours that they work not only provides employees with the wages they are due, it also levels the playing field for those employers who are already complying with the law," said Wage and Hour Division Northern New England District Director Daniel Cronin in Manchester, New Hampshire. "Violations like those in this case can become very costly – and they are avoidable. We encourage employers to reach out to us for assistance."

The Department provides numerous resources and tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices. Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program.

For more information about the FLSA  and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool for workers who may be owed back wages collected by WHD.