H Mart to Pay $105k For Violating State Wage and Hour Laws

A Burlington area grocery store has agreed to pay restitution after an investigation was launched into it's labor practices.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week that H Mart Boston, LLC (H Mart) will pay more than $105,000 in restitution and penalties to resolve allegations it improperly deducted for meal breaks and unlawfully rounded working hours in its favor.

According to a release from the attorney general's office, in February of 2011 the office received a complaint from a former H Mart employee alleging that excess time was deducted for meal breaks and that the company was rounding employee hours in a manner that shorted their pay.

H Mart fully cooperated with the AG’s investigation, the release states. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the store will pay restitution to 196 employees and former employees and a penalty to the state.

The matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Lisa Price, and was investigated by Inspector Nora Saint-Martin, both of AG Coakley’s Fair Labor Division.