Walmart To Pay $4.8M In Back Wages, Damages - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Walmart Stores Inc. agreed to pay employees $4.8 million in back wages and damages, as well as $463,000 in civil penalties, on Tuesday after the US Department of Labor found the company failed to pay overtime to more than 4,500 workers.

While the fine pales in comparison to the more than $600 million the Bentonville, Ark.-company paid in 2008 to settle 63 suits across the country over allegations it did not provide workers with proper rest and meal breaks, the settlement highlights the lingering complaints Walmart faces over how it treats its workers.

In this settlement, the Labor Department found that workers employed as Walmart or Sam's Club security guards or as managers in the stores' vision departments between 2004 and 2007 were denied overtime pay when they were incorrectly classified as exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime laws.

The act mandates employees be paid at least a $7.25 minimum wage, plus time-and-one-half their regular rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Some employees, such as executives and administrative workers who are paid a salary of more than $455 a week, are exempt from overtime rules.

Read more: Wall Street Journal