The owners of an enterprise operating nine gas stations and convenience stores in Carrollton and Bowdon have been ordered to pay $63,398 in wages to six employees for violating overtime and record keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the U.S. Department of Labor this week.

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigated Tushar and Varsha Patel – the owners of Marathon, Chevron, Shell, and BP gas stations – and found the employer paid overtime-eligible managers flat salaries, without regard to the number of hours that they worked. In doing so, the employer violated FLSA by failing to pay overtime in addition to the managers’ salaries when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. WHD also found the employer failed to maintain accurate records of the hours employees worked, also a federal violation.

“We encourage all employers to review their pay practices and contact the Wage and Hour Division for compliance assistance. By doing so, employers can ensure all employees are paid properly and avoid violations like those found in this case,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Williams, in Atlanta.

WHD investigators found the violations at the following gas station locations: