Wal-Mart gets caught - over and over again - in one of their illegal profitability secrets

This short article highlights the off-the-clock working scandals that Wal-Mart has involved itself in over multiple years.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/13604796.htm

Wal-Mart is currently paying out the nose in both Colorado and California for forcing workers to work unpaid overtime, work during their unpaid lunch breaks, etc., and they may have to do the same in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was just given permission to file a class-action law suit against Wal-Mart for the same reasons the Colorado and California did. As Dolores Hummel says in the article, "one of Wal-Mart's undisclosed secrets for its profitability is its creation and implementation of a system that encourages off-the-clock work for its hourly employees," which makes me wonder, if Wal-Mart has been caught forcing employees to work off the clock in three states, how many more will come forth with similar law-suits? Also, if Wal-Mart considers it the mark of a good employee to work off-the-clock, how does the company determine who is most beneficial for raises and promotions? Are people who don't work the expected unpaid hours seen as candidates for the next round of lay-offs? And if this has been going on since - at the latest - 1992, why has it taken about thirteen years for anyone to file a lawsuit about it?