Wage Law

The Bush administration loves Wal-Mart more than it lovesn the little children who have to work for a living.

I'm late coming to this discussion, but I just saw the memo Nathan Newman posted on his employment law blog, and I couldn't believe my eyes. Four months ago, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $135,540 to settle claims arising from child labor law violations in Connecticut, Arkansas and New Hampshire, including claims that minors were operating dangerous machinery like forklifts, cardboard bailers and chainsaws. Wal-Mart admitted no wrongdoing, but paid the fine and, as part of the deal, got the Labor Department to agree to give Wal-Mart 15 days advance notice before it investigates any other wage and hour accusations, including failure to pay minimum wage and failure to pay overtime! Wal-Mart even got the privilege of approving DOL press releases, so as to cleanse them of unpleasant details, such as

"The department's Wage and Hour Division found that Wal-Mart allowed teenage workers to operate hazardous equipment resulting in one teenager being injured while operating a chain saw."

California Congressman George Miller wonders why the lawbreakers seem to be running the show. "I don't know if the Department of Labor threw in the towel or whether Wal-Mart put enough political pressure on them that they ended up with a sweetheart deal," he said. "I don't know if there's anything in Wal-Mart's background with regards to allegations of violations of labor laws that would make any suggestion Wal-Mart has earned the right for this kind of treatment."

To the contrary, Miller points out, "Wal-Mart imposes a huge, often hidden, cost on its workers, our communities, and U.S. taxpayers ... and Wal-Mart is in the driver’s seat in the global race to the bottom, suppressing wage levels, workplace protections, and labor laws."

I just noticed this, of course, because I have several Wal-Mart clients who want me to file a class action against the retailer for a variety of wage and hour law violations. We'll be watching Wal-Mart more closely from now on, and I'll report in with what we find.