New Jersey gas pump jockeys claim $2 million in back pay

Seems like there ought to be a Bruce Springsteen song somewhere in this saga.

In New Jersey, customers are not allowed to pump their own gas. That quirky law—the only one of its kind in the nation—means gas station owners have to employ lots of pump jockeys. That’s an expense many gas stations would rather not pay.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is not sympathetic.

On April 27, the WHD announced it had recovered $2,079,596 in back wages and liquidated damages for 87 attendants working at 25 southern New Jersey gas stations.

WHD investigators found that the gas station owners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay attendants the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and failing to pay overtime when employees worked more than 40 hours in a week.

Additionally, the owners failed to maintain accurate time and payroll records, as required by law. WHD also assessed one owner of six gas stations a civil money penalty of $8,976 for willful violations. The violations dated back to January 2017.