The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from supermarket giant Wal-Mart against the $187.6m verdict in a class-action lawsuit.

Hourly employees of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club filed the lawsuit more than a decade ago against the companies for failing to compensate for off-the-clock work, although this was mentioned in the companies’ policies.

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Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club were ordered by the court to pay millions of dollars to workers employed in its Pennsylvania stores for not adhering to the state’s minimum wage laws.

The companies approached the the Supreme Court following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court verdict, which upheld the judgment in favour of the employees.

"While we continue to believe these claims should not be bundled together in a class-action lawsuit, we respect the court’s decision."

Wal-Mart was quoted by The Hill as stating that it is disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision to not review its appeal.

"While we continue to believe these claims should not be bundled together in a class-action lawsuit, we respect the court’s decision.

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"We will now determine how we move forward in the trial court," the company added.

The company also stated that lawsuit was over a decade old and since then policies have been put in place to compensate workers for rest breaks and off-the-clock work.

"We have taken additional steps over the last decade, including enhancing our timekeeping systems and additional training, to make sure all our associates understand the importance of those policies and comply with them," the company said.