US recoups $5.5M for underpaid New Jersey gas station attendants, where drivers can't pump gas

The federal government says it has collected $5.5 million for 1,100 New Jersey gas station attendants who were denied minimum wage and overtime payments.

The payments go back to a 2010 initiative by the federal Labor Department, which found widespread underpayments to the employees around the state.

Over the five-year period, the repayments have come to $5,000 per worker.

Gas station attendants are a rare sight elsewhere, but they're at every station in New Jersey. New Jersey and Oregon are the only states that don't let motorists pump their own gas.

The Labor Department says the effort has worked because stations have bought time clocks to record workers' hours and have hired additional workers to avoid overtime violations.

The government says it will continue to monitor New Jersey stations.