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The Wage and Hour Division (Wage-Hour) administers and enforces FLSA with respect to private employment, State and local government employment, and Federal employees of the Library of Congress, U.S. Postal Service, Postal Rate Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Office of Personnel Management is responsible for enforcement with regard to all other Federal employees.
Special rules apply to State and local government employment involving fire protection and law enforcement activities, volunteer services, and compensatory time off in lieu of cash overtime pay.
Wages required by FLSA are due on the regular payday for the pay period covered. Deductions made from wages for such items as cash or merchandise shortages, employercrequired uniforms, and tools of the trade, are not legal to the extent that they reduce the wages of employees below the minimum rate required by FLSA or reduce the amount of overtime pay due under FLSA.
The FLSA contains some exemptions from these basic standards. Some apply to specific types of businesses; others apply to specific kinds of work.
While FLSA does set basic minimum wage and overtime pay standards and regulates the employment of minors, there are a number of employment practices which FLSA does not regulate.
For example, FLSA does not require:
(1) vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay;
(2) meal or rest periods, holidays off, or vacations;
(3) premium pay for weekend or holiday work;
(4) pay raises or fringe benefits; and
(5) a discharge notice, reason for discharge, or immediate payment of final wages to terminated employees.
The FLSA does not provide wage payment or collection procedures for an employee's usual or promised wages or commissions in excess of those required by the FLSA. However, some states do have laws under which such claims (sometimes including fringe benefits) may be filed.
Also, FLSA does not limit the number of hours in a day or days in a week an employee may be required or scheduled to work if the employee is at least 16 years old.
These matters are for agreement between the employer and the employees or their authorized representatives.
A covered enterprise is the related activities performed through unified operation or common control by any person or persons for a common business purpose and -- (1) whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is not less than $500,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level that are separately stated); or
(2) is engaged in the operation of a hospital, an institution primarily engaged in the care of those who are physically or mentally ill or disabled or aged, and who reside on the premises, a school for children who are mentally or physically disabled or gifted, a preschool, an elementary or secondary school, or an institution of higher education (whether operated for profit or not for profit); or
(3) is an activity of a public agency.
Construction and laundry/dry cleaning enterprises, which were previously covered regardless of their annual dollar volume of business, are now subject to the $500,000 test.
Any enterprise that was covered by FLSA on March 31, 1990, and that ceased to be covered because of the increase in the enterprise coverage dollar volume test must continue to pay its employees not less than $3.35 an hour, and continues to be subject to the overtime pay, child labor and record-keeping provisions of FLSA.
Employees of firms which are not covered enterprises under FLSA may still be subject to its minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor provisions if they are individually engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for interstate commerce. Such employees include those who: work in communications or transportation; regularly use the mails, telephones, or telegraph for interstate communication, or keep records of interstate transactions; handle, ship, or receive goods moving in interstate commerce; regularly cross State lines in the course of employment; or work for independent employers who contract to do clerical, custodial, maintenance, or other work for firms engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for interstate commerce.
Domestic service workers such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks, or full-time babysitters are covered if they (1) receive at least $50 in cash wages in a calendar quarter from their employers, or (2) work a total of more than 8 hours a week for one or more employers.
The employer who elects to use the tip credit provision must inform the employee in advance and must be able to show that the employee receives at least the minimum wage when direct wages and the tip credit allowance are combined. Also, employees must retain all of their tips, except to the extent that they participate in a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement.
An employee who has been paid at the training wage for 90 days may be employed at the training wage for 90 additional days by a different employer, if that employer provides on-the-job training in accordance with rules issued by the Department of Labor.
Employers are prohibited from displacing employees (or reducing their wages or benefits) in order to hire employees at the training wage. In addition, employers are prohibited from hiring employees at the training wage when other employees have been laid off in the previous six months from the positions to be filled at the training wage, or from substantially equivalent positions.
The number of hours of work paid at the training wage cannot exceed 25% of all the hours worked by employees of an establishment in any month.
The training wage provisions expire March 31, 1993.
Because exemptions are generally narrowly defined under FLSA, an employer should carefully check the exact terms and conditions for each. Detailed information is available from local Wage-Hour offices. Following are examples which are illustrative but do not spell out the conditions for each exemption.
(2) Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments, employees of certain small newspapers, switchboard operators of small telephone companies, seamen employed on foreign vessels, and employees engaged in fishing operations;
(3) Farm workers employed by anyone who used no more than 500 "man-days" of farm labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year;
(4) Casual babysitters and persons employed as companions to the elderly or infirm.
Exemptions from Overtime Pay Provisions Only
(1) Certain highly-paid commissioned employees of retail or service establishments; auto, truck, trailer, farm implement, boat, or aircraft salesworkers, or parts-clerks and mechanics servicing autos, trucks, or farm implements, and who are employed by nonmanufacturing establishments primarily engaged in selling these items to ultimate purchasers;
(2) Employees of railroads and air carriers, taxi drivers, certain employees of motor carriers, seamen on American vessels, and local delivery employees paid on approved trip rate plans;
(3) Announcers, news editors, and chief engineers of certain nonmetropolitan broadcasting stations;
(4) Domestic service workers residing in the employers' residences;
(5) Employees of motion picture theaters; and
(6) Farmworkers.
Partial Exemptions from Overtime Pay
(1) Partial overtime pay exemptions apply to employees engaged in certain operations on agricultural commodities and employees of certain bulk petroleum distributors.
(2) Hospitals and residential care establishments may adopt, by agreement with their employees, a 14-day work period in lieu of the usual 7-day workweek, if the employees are paid at least time and one-half their regular rates for hours worked over 8 in a day or 80 in a 14-day work period, whichever is the greater number of overtime hours.
(3) Employees who lack a high school diploma, or who have not attained the educational level of the 8th grade, can be required to spend up to 10 hours in a workweek engaged in remedial reading or training in other basic skills without receiving time and one-half overtime pay for these hours. However, the employees must receive their normal wages for hours spent in such training and the training must not be job specific.
(1) Youths 18 years or older may perform any job, whether hazardous or not, for unlimited hours;
(2) Youths 16 and 17 years old may perform any nonhazardous job, for unlimited hours; and
(3) Youths 14 and 15 years old may work outside school hours in various nonmanufacturing, nonmining, nonhazardous jobs under the following conditions: no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a nonschool day, or 40 hours in a nonschool week. Also, work may not begin before 7 a.m., nor end after 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended to 9 p.m. Under a special provision, youths 14 and 15 years old enrolled in an approved Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP) may be employed for up to 23 hours in school weeks and 3 hours on school days (including during school hours.)
Fourteen is the minimum age for most nonfarm work. However, at any age, youths may deliver newspapers; perform in radio, television, movie, or theatrical productions; work for parents in their solely-owned nonfarm business (except in manufacturing or on hazardous jobs); or, gather evergreens and make evergreen wreaths.
(1) Youths 16 years and older may perform any job, whether hazardous or not, for unlimited hours;
(2) Youths 14 and 15 years old may perform any nonhazardous farm job outside of school hours;
(3) Youths 12 and 13 years old may work outside of school hours in nonhazardous jobs, either with parent's written consent or on the same farm as the parents;
(4) Youths under 12 years old may perform jobs on farms owned or operated by parents or, with parents' written consent, outside of school hours in nonhazardous jobs on farms not covered by minimum wage requirements.
Minors of any age may be employed by their parents at any time in any occupation on a farm owned or operated by their parents.
(1) personal information, including employee's name, home address, occupation, sex, and birth date (if under 19 years of age);
(2) hour and day when workweek begins;
(3) total hours worked each workday and each workweek;
(4) total daily or weekly straightctime earnings;
(5) regular hourly pay rate for any week when overtime is worked;
(6) total overtime pay for the workweek;
(7) deductions from or additions to wages;
(8) total wages paid each pay period; and
(9) date of payment and pay period covered.
Records required for exempt employees differ from those for nonexempt workers, and special information is required for homeworkers, for employees working under uncommon pay arrangements, for employees to whom lodging or other facilities are furnished, or for employees receiving remedial education.
Hours Worked -- Covered employees must be paid for all hours worked in a workweek. In general, "hours worked" includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer's premises or at any other prescribed place of work. Also included is any additional time the employee is suffered or permitted to work.
(1) Hourly rate -- (regular pay rate for an employee paid by the hour). If more than 40 hours are worked, at least one and one-half times the regular rate for each hour over 40 is due.
Example: An employee paid $4.80 an hour works 44 hours in a workweek. The employee is entitled to at least one and one-half times $4.80, or $7.20, for each hour over 40. Pay for the week would be $192 for the first 40 hours, plus $28.80 for the four hours of overtime--a total of $220.80
(2) Piece rate -- The regular rate of pay for an employee paid on a piecework basis is obtained by dividing the total weekly earnings by the total number of hours worked in the same week.
The employee is entitled to an additional one-half times this regular rate for each hour over 40, plus the full piecework earnings.
Example: An employee paid on a piecework basis works 45 hours in a week and earns $207. The regular rate of pay for that week is $207 divided by 45, or $4.60 an hour. In addition to the straightctime pay, the employee is entitled to $2.30 (half the regular rate) for each hour over 40.
Another way to compensate pieceworkers for overtime, if agreed to before the work is performed, is to pay one and one-half times the piece rate for each piece produced during the overtime hours.
The piece rate must be the one actually paid during nonovertime hours and must be enough to yield at least the minimum wage per hour.
(3) Salary -- the regular rate for an employee paid a salary for a regular or specified number of hours a week is obtained by dividing the salary by the number of hours for which the salary is intended to compensate.
If, under the employment agreement, a salary sufficient to meet the minimum wage requirement in every workweek is paid as straight time for whatever number of hours are worked in a workweek, the regular rate is obtained by dividing the salary by the number of hours worked each week. To illustrate, suppose an employee's hours of work vary each week and the agreement with the employer is that the employee will be paid $300 a week for whatever number of hours of work are required. Under this agreement, the regular rate will vary in overtime weeks. If the employee works 50 hours, the regular rate is $6 ($300 divided by 50 hours). In addition to the salary, half the regular rate, or $3 is due for each of the 10 overtime hours, for a total of $330 for the week. If the employee works 60 hours, the regular rate will be $5 ($300 divided by 60). In that case, an additional $2.50 is due for each of the 20 overtime hours, for a total of $350 for the week.
In no case may the regular rate be less than the minimum wage required by FLSA.
If a salary is paid on other than a weekly basis, the weekly pay must be determined in order to compute the regular rate and overtime. If the salary is for a half month, it must be multiplied by 24 and the product divided by 52 weeks to get the weekly equivalent. A monthly salary should be multiplied by 12 and the product divided by 52.
It is a violation of FLSA to fire or in any other manner discriminate against an employee for filing a complaint or for participating in a legal proceeding under FLSA.
Willful violations may be prosecuted criminally and the violator fined up to $10,000. A second conviction may result in imprisonment.
Violators of the child labor provisions are subject to a civil money penalty of up to $10,000 for each employee who was the subject of a violation.
Employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements are subject to civil money penalties of up to $1,000 per violation.
The FLSA prohibits the shipment of goods in interstate commerce which were produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, or special minimum wage provisions.
(1) Wage-Hour may supervise payment of back wages.
(2) The Secretary of Labor may bring suit for back wages and an equal amount as liquidated damages.
(3) An employee may file a private suit for back pay and an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus attorney's fees and court costs.
(4) The Secretary of Labor may obtain an injunction to restrain any person from violating FLSA, including the unlawful withholding of proper minimum wage and overtime pay.
An employee may not bring suit if he or she has been paid back wages under the supervision of Wage-Hour or if the Secretary of Labor has already filed suit to recover the wages.
A 2-year statute of limitations applies to the recovery of back pay, except in the case of willful violation, in which case a 3-year statute applies.
(1) the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (require payment of prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits on federallycfinanced or assisted construction);
(2) the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (requires payment of minimum wage rates and overtime pay on contracts to provide goods to the Federal government);
(3) the Service Contract Act (requires payment of prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits on contracts to provide services to the Federal government);
(4) the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (sets overtime standards for service and construction contracts);
(5) the Immigration and Nationality Act (Wage-Hour is authorized to review the Immigration and Naturalization Service forms (I-9) required under the Act; employers must verify the employment eligibility of all individuals hired, and must keep I-9s on file for at least 3 years and for one year after an employee is terminated);
(6) the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (protects farm workers by imposing certain requirements on agricultural employers and associations; and by requiring the registration of crewleaders who must also provide the same worker protections);
(7) the H-2A provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (provide for the enforcement of contractual obligations of job offers which have been certified to by employers of temporary alien nonimmigrant agricultural workers);
(8) the Wage Garnishment Law (limits amount of an individual's income that may be legally garnished and prohibits the firing of an employee whose pay is garnished for payment of a single debt);
(9) the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (prohibits most private employers from using any type of lie detector test either for pre-employment screening of job applicants or for testing current employees during the course of employment);
(10) the Immigration Nursing Relief Act of 1989 (provides for the enforcement of employment conditions attested to by employers of H-1A temporary alien nonimmigrant registered nurses);
(11) the Immigration Act of 1990 (provides for the enforcement of employment conditions attested to by employers seeking to employ alien crewmembers to perform specified longshore activity at U.S. ports);
(12) the H-1B provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (govern enforcement of labor condition applications filed by employers wishing to employ aliens in specialty occupations and as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability, on H-1B visas); and (13) section 221 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (governs the filing and enforcement of attestations by employers seeking to use aliens admitted as students on F-1 visas in offccampus work).
More detailed information on FLSA and other laws administered by Wage-Hour is available from local Wage-Hour offices, which are listed in most telephone directories under U.S. Government, Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.
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