7-Eleven Store in Northern California to Pay Employees $42,350 After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Finds Overtime Violations

SAN JOSE, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), a 7-Eleven store in Concord, California will pay $42,350 in back wages and liquidated damages to 10 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime requirements.

WHD investigators found Sanjha Enterprises Inc, the owner of the 7-Eleven franchise, failed to pay employees overtime at time-and-one-half their regular rates of pay when they worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek, as the law requires. Instead, the employer continued to pay the employees their straight-time rates for the overtime hours in cash. The employer also violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements by failing to keep accurate payroll records.

“Employers must pay employees for all the time that they work, including overtime,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Susana Blanco in San Jose, California. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to making sure workers receive the wages they have earned and that employers compete on a level playing field. Other employers should use the results of this investigation as an opportunity to examine their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law.”

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation's workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.