US Department of Labor recovers $51K in back wages, damages for employees of Evansville consignment store 

Employer: M & M Enterprises Inc. ‒ operating as Worldwide Missions Consignment Store

                   301 N. Congress Ave., 

                   Evansville, IN

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and record keeping provisions by M & M Enterprises, operating as World Wide Missions Consignment Store in Evansville, Indiana. 

Investigators found the company and its owner, Mary Pry, paid straight time for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek, instead of the required time and one-half their regular hourly rate of pay from at least Aug. 3, 2020 to July 30, 2023. Pry paid employees by check for the first 40 hours and in cash for hours worked over 40 in a pay week and failed to note those payments in payroll records. The company also failed to keep accurate payroll records.

Resolution: The company paid a total of $51,182, which represents $25,591 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 27 employees. 

The Wage and Hour Division also assessed $17,955 in civil money penalties for willful violations of the FLSA. 

Quote: “Federal regulations protect every worker’s right to be paid for hours they work and the overtime wages they earn,” said Wage and Hour District Director Aaron Loomis, in Indianapolis. “This company’s practice of paying overtime hours at a straight-time wage in cash and then intentionally failing to record the payments on payroll records demonstrates a willful violation of the law.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate.