A married couple who owns three indoor farmers markets in Bergen County was ordered to pay more than $1.8 million after authorities say 226 employees weren’t compensated for working overtime.

In a June 22 press release, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said an investigation by its wage and hour division determined that D&J Enterprises LLC (Giant Farmers Market in Hackensack), J&Y Giant LLC (Oakland Giant Farmers Market in Oakland) and Waldwick Farmers Market LLC (Giant Farmers Market in Waldwick) violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by:

• Paying some employees a day rate or salary, without any overtime pay for hours over 40;
• Paying other employees in checks for their first 40 hours and cash for hours over 40, without required overtime time;
• Failing to include non-discretionary bonuses into the regular rate of pay, which is necessary when calculating overtime rates;
• Deducting breaks of only 20 minutes from employees’ hours worked.

The stores are jointly owned by John Lee and Diana Lee under three different corporate entities, according to the DOL.

In addition to recovering $917,455 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the DOL said it assessed $80,428 in civil money penalties.

Attempts to reach the Lees were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.

In a statement, Paula Ruffin, North Jersey district director of the wage and hour division office in Mountainside, said, “Supermarket and grocery workers are among some of our nation’s lowest-paid, and they depend on every dollar earned to make ends meet.”

She went on to add the attempts “to evade federal regulations that protect workers’ rights to be paid all of their earned wages created an unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors.”

Ruffin also encouraged employers to take advantage of the tools the DOL offers to help them learn about compliance.