The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the federal standards for minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping, including youth employment standards, for full-time and part-time employees. Generally, employers are expected to abide by and to comply with the rules set by FLSA in regard to wage and overtime issues. Employers are also required to post a notice explaining employee rights under the FLSA; this notice is available from the Department of Labor.
Which Employees Are Covered?
An employee can be covered by the FLSA either through enterprise coverage or individual coverage.
Enterprise coverage includes employees who work for businesses, organizations or enterprises with annual dollar volume sales of at least $500,000. Also covered are hospitals, businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents, schools and preschools, and government agencies. Enterprise coverage extends also to businesses that engage in interstate commerce (commerce across state lines) or produce goods for interstate commerce.
Even if an employer doesn't meet the standards for enterprise coverage, individual employees of that employer may be covered if they work in interstate commerce. For example, employees who handle, sell, produce, or otherwise work on goods or materials that have come from, or will go to, another state are covered by the FLSA. Employees who use the mail, phone, or other communications equipment to communicate across state lines for business are also engaged in interstate commerce and are covered by the FLSA.
Exempt or Nonexempt?
Certain employees are not protected by the FLSA's overtime and/or minimum wage rules. These employees are referred to as "exempt" employees; employees who are entitled to the minimum wage and overtime are referred to as "nonexempt." Whether an employee is exempt or not depends on the kind of work the employee does and whether the employee earns a salary. For more information, see Exempt vs. Nonexempt: Who Is Entitled to Overtime?
FLSA Wage and Overtime Pay Requirements
The FLSA requires employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour.
Generally, the FLSA requires employers to pay nonexempt employees one-and-a-half times their regular hourly rate for every hour worked in excess of 40 in a week. However, the law does not require employers to pay overtime for Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays (unless the employee's hours exceed 40 in a workweek), except as required by state law or negotiated in a union contract.
To safeguard the safety and educational opportunities of youth, the FLSA prohibits minors from working in certain occupations deemed hazardous or detrimental to their health. It also limits the hours minor employees can work, if the employees are not yet 16 years old.
Work Hours
The 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. It requires only that nonexempt employees who work overtime be paid time-and-a-half for those hours.
Topics Not Covered By the FLSA
The FLSA does not regulate every wage and hour issue. Although these topics may be covered by other federal laws, state laws, or local ordinances, they are not part of the FLSA's requirements:
- pay raises and fringe benefits
- vacation, holiday, severance, and sick pay
- premium pay for weekend or holiday work
- meal or rest periods, time off, and other vacations
- discharge notice or reasons for discharge, or
- timing of final paychecks.
