Daniyal Enterprises LLC, the owner of 72 gas stations in New Jersey, recently entered into a settlement with the United States Department of Labor (”DOL”) wherein it agreed to pay almost 3.1 million dollars in overtime back wages and penalties.  Attendants at gas stations owned by Daniyal (Roadway Fuel, Ali Fuel, Green Fuel) worked up to 84 hours per week, but did not receive overtime pay.  In an apparent effort to hide the amount of hours actually worked by its employees, Daniyal failed to maintain accurate records of the hours worked by its employees and even paid some wages off the books and in cash.

As a result of the settlement, not only must Daniyal pay over three million dollars for overtime violations, but it must also install biometric time clocks, provide a notice to workers regarding the terms of the compliance agreement, provide Fair Labor Standards Act training for all employees in English and other languages, an anti-kickback protection clause to ensure that all workers are paid any back wages due and provide a toll-free telephone number for workers to report future violations to a Federal monitor.

The DOL conducted more than 100 investigations involving gas stations in 2012 and is clearly making an effort to protect employees in the industry.  Gas station owners should take note and expect that the DOL will continue to aggressively police overtime practices in the industry.