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Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Coverage

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the Federal law that sets minimum wage, overtime, record-keeping, and child labor standards. All employees of certain enterprises having workers engaged in interstate commerce, producing goods for interstate commerce, or handling, selling, or otherwise working on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for such commerce by any person are covered by FLSA.

More than eighty million American workers are protected (or "covered") by the FLSA, which is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. There are two ways in which an employee can be covered by the law: "enterprise coverage" and "individual coverage."

Enterprise Coverage

Employees who work for certain businesses or organizations (or "enterprises") are covered by the FLSA. These enterprises, which must have at least two employees, are:

·      those which do at least $500,000 a year in business, or

·      hospitals, businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents, schools and preschools, and government agencies.

Any enterprise that was covered by FLSA on March 31, 1990, and that ceased to be covered because of the $500,000 test, continues to be subject to the overtime pay, child labor and recordkeeping provisions of FLSA.

Individual Coverage

Even when there is no enterprise coverage, employees are protected by the FLSA if their work regularly involves them in commerce between States ("interstate commerce"). In its own words, the law covers individual workers who are "engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce."

Examples of employees who are involved in interstate commerce include those who: produce goods (such as a worker assembling components in a factory or a secretary typing letters in an office) that will be sent out of state, regularly make telephone calls to persons located in other States, handle records of interstate transactions, travel to other States on their jobs, and do janitorial work in buildings where goods are produced for shipment outside the State.

Employees of firms which are not covered enterprises under FLSA still may 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, or in any closely-related process or occupation directly essential to such production. 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

·          their cash wages from one employer are at least $1,000 in a calendar year (or the amount designated pursuant to an adjustment provision in the Internal Revenue Code), or

·          they work a total of more than 8 hours a week for one or more employers.

Additional Information

For additional information, you may call the U.S. DOL Wage-Hour toll-free information and helpline, available 8am to 5pm in your time zone, at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

You may also visit the DOL Wage-Hour website at:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/

For more information about the applicability of FLSA coverage in specific situations, contact your local U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour District Office. It is listed in most telephone directories under United States Government, Labor Department. Contact information and service areas, listed by State, are available online at:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/whd/america2.htm

Also see:

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Overview

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Exemptions

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - FAQ

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Child Labor

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Special Minimum Wages

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - Certification for Special Minimum Wages

Source

Information for this topic was drawn from the U.S. DOL web site at:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/hrg.htm
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs14.htm

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