News Release
US Department of Labor investigations recover $58K in back wages owed to 28 workers at eight San Antonio-area pharmacies
SAN ANTONIO – Since the pandemic’s start, pharmacy workers in our communities have served their customers’ many needs – filling prescriptions, scheduling vaccinations and using contact-free services at counters and drive-through windows – and, in return, they expected to be paid their legally earned wages.
In separate investigations of three San Antonio-area pharmacy operators, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered a total of $58,659 in back wages owed to 28 workers for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements.
Division investigators found Carvajal Pharmacy LTC LLC, operator of six San Antonio locations, paid 11 workers straight time for all the hours they worked in violation of the federal law that requires additional overtime pay when employees work more than 40 hours in a workweek. The employer failed to pay overtime at six Carvajal Pharmacy locations and paid $54,705 in back wages as a result.
At Davila Pharmacy Inc., investigators found the employer failed to include “on-call” incentive pay when calculating overtime for 14 workers. The division recovered $3,687 in back wages for these workers.
At REXCO Pharmacy in Pleasanton, the division determined that operator James B. Magel computed overtime after 80 hours in a pay period incorrectly, instead of after 40 hours as the FLSA requires. By doing so, REXCO paid employees straight time for all hours worked, including those hours when overtime was owed. The employer also violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements. The REXCO Pharmacy investigation led to the recovery of $267 in back wages owed to three workers.
“Pharmacy workers proved to be an essential part of the workforce in the past year, and continue to play important roles in the wellbeing of our communities,” said Wage and Hour District Director Cynthia Ramos in San Antonio. “These investigations have recovered wages that should have been paid to these workers if their employers had followed the law. Employers are responsible for ensuring that their employees receive all of their legally earned wages.”
The department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls to local Wage and Hour Division offices.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, and use its search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.
Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.
