KCK Grocery Store to Pay Over $180K in Penalties For Denying Workers Overtime

Posted March 13, 2024

An investigation from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found a Kansas City, Kansas grocery store repeatedly violated overtime law for its employees.

The investigation recovered $155,990, representing $77,995 in back wages, for 158 employees of Supermart El Torito Inc., according to a release. Additionally, the division assessed the employer with $187,546 in civil money penalties due to repeated violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The violations were found at the Kansas City, Kansas location at 1409 Central Avenue. The employer also operates a second location in Topeka.

By law, the employer should pay its workers time and one-half their hourly rate for when they worked between 41 and 58 hours a week. However, when workers worked more than 58 hours in a week, Supermart El Torito paid the additional time at their straight-time rate in cash.

Supermart El Torito also failed to record and retain accurate employee time records, according to the release.

“When an employer shortchanges its workers their rightfully earned wages, such as overtime, knowingly, they take money out of workers’ pockets,” Wage and Hour District Director Reed Trone said in the release. “Our investigation found Supermart El Torito chose to ignore the law.”