NEW BRUNSWICK  — Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is being sued by a group of New Jersey workers claiming the company has been shorting its employees of overtime pay for years.

The class action lawsuit, filed in Middlesex County Superior Court, accuses the company of violating New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law by not paying some of its employees time-and-a-half for hours worked over 40 hours.

The salaried employees were allegedly paid for overtime work by the New York company with a “fluctuating OT” formula, which would reduce the hourly overtime rates the more hours the employee worked.

The formula divided the employee’s weekly base salary by all hours worked, cut that number in half and then multiplied it by the number of hours over 40 hours worked, according to the suit.

The class action suit claims the hourly rate for overtime pay would sometimes come in less than minimum wage, violating New Jersey’s labor laws.

The suit, filed on Oct. 31, also alleges the company improperly classified some of its workers with the state as exempt employees as a way to not pay them overtime.  Non-exempt employees in the state are required to be paid 1.5 times his or her regular rate of pay for any time worked over 40 hours.

The three New Jersey residents filing the suit have worked or currently still work at various Bed Bath & Beyond locations around the state since 2010. Similar suits have been filed  in other states.

Bed Bath & Beyond did not respond to calls for comment.

The retailer has 1,020 stores, more than a dozen of which are in New Jersey, and also operates Christmas Tree Shops, That! or and That!, Harmon, buybuy Baby and World Market.

The lawsuit seeks alleged unpaid overtime to the people who filed the suit and other current and former Bed Bath & Beyond employees.

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