$57,000 Pay Out Gas-station owner ordered to pay back wages
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ELIZABETH, N.J. -- The owner of 12 gas stations who refused to pay his workers an overtime rate must now pay his employees more than $57,000 in back wages, according to a report in The Jersey Journal.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that Natha Singh, owner of four gasoline corporations, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act at all 12 stations he operated in New Jersey. He has agreed to pay $57,389.48 in back wages to 32 workers, the report states.
The investigation, conducted as part of the division's ongoing gas-station enforcement initiative, found that Singh paid employees straight time for hours worked in excess of 40 per week and did not maintain proper record-keeping.
A Department of Labor spokeswoman declined to say how many employees were cheated or how much they would be receiving.
Singh operates gas stations in Clifton, Elizabeth and Passaic, N.J., under Nanak Oil Inc.; stations in Wallington (two locations), Secaucus and Irvington, N.J., under Paul Mart Inc.; stations in Belleville, Passaic and West Milford, N.J., under Metro Petro Inc.; and stations in Middlesex and Midland Park, N.J., under Route 28 Inc.
Over the past three years, the Wage and Hour Division's Northern New Jersey District Office has conducted 52 investigations as part of its gas-station enforcement initiative, resulting in $443,198.36 in back wages recovered for 185 mostly low-wage workers, according to the newspaper. Minimum wage in New Jersey is $7.25 per hour.
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A Department of Labor spokeswoman declined to say how many employees were cheated or how much they would be receiving.