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Undocumented Workers Worked 7 days a Week - No Overtime or Injury Compensation

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world's largest retailer, has agreed to pay $11 million to settle federal allegations it used hundreds of illegal immigrants to clean its stores, authorities said Friday. Additionally, 12 businesses that provided contract janitor services to Wal-Mart will pay $4 million in fines and plead guilty to criminal immigration charges, officials said. The case against Wal-Mart marks a record dollar amount for a civil immigration settlement, said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It also "requires Wal-Mart to create an internal program to ensure future compliance with immigration laws by Wal-Mart contractors and by Wal-Mart itself," Garcia said Friday in announcing the settlement. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams told The Associated Press the company is "ready to put it behind us and move forward." Though Wal-Mart does not face criminal charges, "we acknowledge that we should have had better safeguards in place to ensure our contractors were hiring only legal workers," Williams said. Wal-Mart shares fell 21 cents to $52.12 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They have traded in a range of $50.86 and $60.45 over the past 52 weeks. In two separate investigations, authorities uncovered the cases of an estimated 345 illegal immigrants contracted as janitors at Wal-Mart stores. Many of the workers worked seven days or nights a week without overtime pay or injury compensation, attorneys said. Those who worked nights were often locked in the store until the morning. Wal-Mart Stores, based in Bentonville, Ark., had sales last year of $288.19 billion. [more]