Wal-Mart hit by lawsuit over temp agency overtime hours

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is being hit by yet another lawsuit, as a proposed class action was filed Monday alleging that the world’s largest retailer and its staffing agencies broke federal minimum wage and overtime laws. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Illinois' Eastern Division claims that Wal-Mart and its staffing firms Labor Ready and QPS required temp workers in the Chicago area to arrive early for work, stay late, and work through lunches and breaks without pay.



The suit also alleges that the two firms neglected to provide workers assigned to the Wal-Mart stores with required employment information and that the retailer also failed to keep accurate time records.



In 2008 Wal-Mart agreed to pay as much as $640 million to settle dozens of federal and state class-action lawsuits alleging it deprived workers of wages. In a separate 2011 lawsuit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that women suing Wal-Mart for gender discrimination could not proceed as a national class action.