Gas Station Owner Pays $3 Million in OT and Fines to Employees

A New Jersey gasoline mogul who owns more than 70 stations across the state, including ones in West Caldwell and Roseland, agreed to pay $2 million in unpaid overtime to his employees. 

Waseem Chaudhary, the proprieter of Madison-based Daniyal Enterprises LLC, also agreed to pay another $1 million in "liquidated damages"—added compensation paid directly to the 417 affected employees—as part of a consent judgment.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (DLWHD) found Chaudhary and his firm engaged in violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and charged him a $91,000 penalty for what they said was the "repeat[ed] and willful nature of the violations."

Wage and Hour Division investigators found Chaudhary's employees often worked up to 84 hours per week, but did not receive earned overtime pay. Instead, many employees were paid partly on the payroll and partly off the books, sometimes in cash, to disguise the improper payment of overtime. The employer also failed to maintain accurate records of the hours employees worked, DLWHD said in a report.

Chaudhary's 72 gas stations include the Shell stations at 803 Bloomfield Ave. in West Caldwell and 168 Eagle Rock Ave., in Roseland.

He also has the franchise for the two gasoline stations on the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge Township: one on the Parkway Southbound in Iselin and the other on the Northbound side in Colonia.

Chaudhary's website for one of his companies involved in the suit, Waseem Petroleum, has a list of some of the gasoline stations, most of which are Shell stations.

The website isn't complete; the sections entitled "History," "Vision," and "Leadership" are all labeled "Under Construction."

As part of the consent agreement to which Chaudhary agreed, he, his companies, and his gas stations will be signed up for a three-year monitoring program to be supervised by an independent monitor who will report to DLWHD.

The program, DLWHD said in a statement, will include the installation of biometric time clocks in each establishment; a notice to workers regarding the terms of the compliance agreement; FLSA training for all employees in English and other languages; an anti-kickback protection clause to ensure that all workers are paid any back wages due; and a toll-free telephone number for workers to report violations to the monitor.