US food manufacturer and distributor J&J Snack Foods and two connected staffing firms are to pay more than US$2.1m (£1.35m) to temporary workers.

According to the US Department of Labor, two federal investigations found repeat underpayment of temporary workers by the firms. The staffing agencies – Sebastian and Sebastian, and J&J and Pennpak – were found to be joint employers of the 667 workers and therefore jointly liable.

The Department of Labor found workers had been denied minimum wage and overtime payments.

In addition to paying the workers what was owed, a fine of $20k was incurred by the three firms for the repeat violations of labour law.

• Want to comment on this story? The Comment box is at the bottom of the page. Sorry for the glitch but just scroll right down and share your opinions!