Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Investigation shows company violated labor laws
COLFAX – The parent company of a local grocer will have to pay a total of $423,588 in back wages and fines for violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The U.S. Department of Labor said an investigation into Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. found the company failed to pay overtime wages to 602 employees, including workers at stores in Colfax, Pullman and Moscow.
As a result, Spokane-based Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. has been ordered to pay $175,363 in unpaid overtime wages to affected employees. In addition, the company has been ordered to pay another $175,363 in liquidated damages to the employees as well as $72,862 in penalties to the labor department.
“Too often, our investigators find grocery industry employers taking advantage of these essential workers by failing to pay them correctly,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carrie Aguilar from the labor department office in Portland, Ore.
Colfax Rosauers Store Manager Shawn McAdams declined to comment.
Labor officials said the back wages, damages and fines were ordered because the company failed to pay employees for meal breaks of less than 20 minutes, and failed to compensate workers for evening premium and hazard pay, and non-discretionary bonuses, when calculating overtime, labor officials said.
A labor investigation found the violations in 16 stores in Washington, four stores in Montana, two in Idaho and one in Oregon. The stores operate under the Rosauers, Super1Foods and Huckleberry’s Natural Market names.
During the investigation, labor officials also found the company violated federal child-labor laws by allowing 16 and 17 year olds to operate a paper baler and box compactor at a Western Washington store, records show.
The labor department cited Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. for similar child-labor violations at 10 stores in 1993.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is determined to enforce laws that protect workers’ rights to be paid fully and to prevent young employees from being employed in dangerous jobs,” Aguilar said.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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