U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Mississippi Wine And Liquor Store Paying $22,782 in Back Wages and Damages

JACKSON, MS – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Warehouse Liquors & Wines Inc. – operating as Wines & Spirits in the Quarter in Jackson, Mississippi – has paid $22,782 in back wages and liquidated damages to six employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found the employer failed to pay employees overtime when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid workers their straight-time rates, in cash, for their overtime hours. The employer paid some workers flat salaries, without regard to the number of hours they worked. This pay practice also violated FLSA overtime requirements when those employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek and the employer did not pay overtime. Wines & Spirits also failed to keep records of the number of hours employees worked, a violation of FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

“Employers must pay their employees the wages they have legally earned for all the hours they work,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “Intentionally paying straight-time rates instead of required overtime is not only an unlawful pay practice, but it gives the employer an unfair advantage over law-abiding employers. The Wage and Hour Division is available to assist any employers in understanding their obligations. Violations like those found in this case can be avoided.”

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 https://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.