KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Supermart El Torito, a Kansas City, Kansas, supermarket, was fined for violating overtime laws, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced Tuesday.
In addition, the federal agency recovered $155,990 — $77,995 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages — for the 158 employees who work there.
During an investigation, the agency found El Torito paid employees time and a-half for overtime hours when they worked between 41 and 58 hours a week.
When an employee passed 58 hours, the supermarket paid additional hours at an employee's normal rate, the investigation found. By doing so, El Torito violated overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The supermarket was fined $187,456 in civil money penalties for the overtime violations.
The investigation found El Torito also failed to record and retain accurate employee time records.
“When an employer shortchanges its workers their rightfully earned wages, such as overtime, knowingly, they take money out of workers’ pockets,” said Reed Trone, wage and hour district director with the U.S. DOL in KCMO. “Our investigation found Supermart El Torito chose to ignore the law.”
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