Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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MIAMI -- Miami grocer JYMD Food Corp. has agreed to pay $76,595 in back wages to 104 employees of its Price Choice stores after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that all workers receive the wages that they are legally due,” said Will Garnitz, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Miami.

Wage and Hour Division investigators found that all of the grocery store’s hourly employees were paid straight time wages for all hours worked, which regularly exceeded 45 hours in a workweek, without compensation for overtime.

Additionally, during the investigation, it was revealed that one employee had been paid less than the federal minimum wage during his first two weeks of employment.

JYMD Food Corp. has agreed to correct these underpayments and comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the future. The FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour, and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The law also requires that employers maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division concluded 30,467 compliance actions and recovered a record $220 million in back wages for more than 341,000 employees in fiscal year 2007. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2007 represent a 67 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 58 percent since fiscal year 2001.

For more information, call the department’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Miami District Office of the Wage and Hour Division, 10300 Sunset Drive (Sunset Center), Room 255; telephone: 305- 596-9874.

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