Wal-Mart Workers Owed Back Pay

I read with interest the Reuters story by Nichola Groom and Brad Dorfman about Wal-Mart repaying nearly $4,000,000.00 to employees in California for “underpaid overtime”. Of course the employee’s weren’t overpaid. Would that ever happen at Wal-Mart?

The giant retailer was charged nearly $200,000.00 in penalties. That’s a pretty big fine, but to a monster like Wal-Mart it’s a slap on the wrist.

The story was really disappointing. Groom and Dorfman let Wal-Mart off the hook without even one opposing view sited. It reads like a Wal-Mart press release. In fact, I would guess that they probably read a press release and said to themselves, “let’s just use this and call it a day”. The least these two crack reporters could do is track down a few Wal-Mart workers and ask their opinion. Here’s a short list of questions they might want to consider next time:

For Angela Bradstreet, Labor Commissioner

• When you say “out of compliance”, you mean” breaking the law” right?


• Did Wal-Mart underpay their workers on purpose? (I know the answer to this one)

For John Smiley, Wal-Mart Representative

• Why should the public believe anything you say?


• Were any top-executives underpaid? (I know the answer to this one too)

To the Wal-Mart workers

• Were you aware that you were underpaid for overtime?


• Do you think Wal-Mart underpaid you on purpose?


• Did you ever discuss these problems with your supervisors or coworkers?


• Do you feel this is a fair settlement?


• Do you think this will have any effect on how Wal-Mart does business in the future?


• How has being underpaid affected your quality of life?

What questions would you like to see asked? Do you think the penalty was enough to discourage Wal-Mart from underpaying workers in the future?