"If you're gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done”

--Kenny Rogers, the Gambler

A Memphis, TN Shell gas station, operating under the fitting name of Thirsty Enterprise LLCC, wanted to work its cashiers more than 80 hours a week, but alter their time records, pay a small bonus, and not pay any of the premium overtime otherwise due. Not surprisingly, this ended badly.

As noted in a Wage & Hour Division press release dated March 28, 2022:

The operator of a Memphis Shell gas station and convenience store paid workers cash bonuses in place of overtime pay and persuaded them to sign altered time records to avoid paying full overtime wages due, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.   

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Thirsty Enterprise LLC also failed to pay one employee the federal minimum wage. The worker received a fixed salary for all hours worked, but the salary provided less the required minimum wage for each hour of work. The employer also paid cashiers – some who worked more than 80 hours per week – with checks that showed fewer hours than actually worked and asked the employees to sign altered time records. The employer then paid those workers the balance of the hours worked in cash at straight-time rates, rather than the time-and-one-half required for hours that exceeded 40 in a workweek.

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20220328

What’s the payback for this kind of sharp dealing? Here, the employer owed $30,005 in back wages, an equal amount in liquidated damages, and a $2,324 civil money penalty. Ouch! Plus, the employer probably got no credit for the bonus money that was paid, and maybe it even added to the overtime due, although that isn’t clear from the press release.   

So, no matter how thirsty or desperate an employer you may be, the downside to noncompliance is even worse if you are caught. This Shell Station is going to have to pump a lot more gas just to get back to even. They better hope for a gas tax holiday.