Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said yesterday it will pay as much as $640 million to settle 63 lawsuits over wage-and-hour violations, ending years of dispute.

The discount retailer, which has more than 1.4 million employees, said the amount it pays would depend on how many claims are submitted by eligible workers and could range from $352 million to $640 million. As a result of the agreements, each of which must be approved by a trial judge, the world's largest retailer said it would take a $250 million after-tax charge during its fiscal fourth quarter ending 31 January.

If approved, the settlements would close the majority of the long-running cases Wal-Mart faces on allegations that it did not provide its workers with proper rest and meal breaks, violating state laws. The company disclosed in a regulatory filing earlier this year that it had 76 such cases; resolving 63 in one fell swoop leaving just 12 remaining cases. Wal-Mart settled a case in Minnesota earlier this month.

"Our policy is to pay associates for every hour worked and to provide rest and meal breaks," Tom Mars, Wal-Mart's executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. "Resolving this litigation is in the best interest of our company, our shareholders and our associates. Many of these lawsuits were filed years ago and are not representative of the company we are today."

"After many years of hard fought litigation, the parties have reached an agreement that values the work of Wal-Mart's employees by providing both economic and injunctive relief," said Carolyn Burton of the Mills Law Firm, co-lead counsel in a group of 35 cases consolidated in Nevada and cases covering four other states, in a press release issued by Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart has been working steadily to rehabilitate its image amid continuing scrutiny of its labor and business practices.

Last year, the retailer said it would pay more than $33 million in back wages to thousands of employees after turning itself in to the labour department for paying too little in overtime over the previous five years.

Also last year, a judge in Pennsylvania ruled that Wal-Mart workers in that state who previously won a $78.5 million class-action award for working off the clock will share an additional $62.3 million in damages.

Shares in Wal-Mart, which rose 70 cents to close at $55.29 before the settlement was announced, rose 21 cents further in after-hours trading.