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Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA)

The Fair Labor Standards Act defines the minimum standards for wages and overtime entitlement. It outlines administrative procedures to ensure that covered worktime must be compensated. Included in the Act are provisions related to child labor, equal pay, and portal-to-portal activities. In addition, the Act exempts specified employees or groups of employees from the application of certain of its provision.

What FLSA means to your company

Your Company must pay covered nonexempt workers a minimum wage of not less than $5.15 an hour (as of Sept. 1997). Overtime must be paid at a rate of not less than one and one-half times the regular rates of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek.

(NOTE: Employees under 20 years of age may be paid $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer. Certain full-time students, student learners, apprentices, and workers with disabilities may be paid less than the minimum wage under special certificates issued by the Department of Labor. Employers of tipped employees must pay a cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour if they claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligation. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Certain other conditions must also be met.)

Your employees must be at least 16 years old to work in most non-farm jobs and at least 18 to work in non-farm jobs declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.

(NOTE: Youths 14 and 15 years old may work outside school hours in various non-manufacturing, non-mining, non-hazardous jobs provided it is no more than 3 hours on a school day or 18 hours in a school week; or 8 hours on a non-school day or 40 hours in a non-school week. Also, work may not begin before 7 a.m. or end after 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended to 9 p.m. Different rules apply in agricultural employment.)

Your Company must pay wages on the regular payday for the pay period covered. Deductions made from wages for such items as cash or merchandise shortages, employer-required 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.

Your Company may not discriminate against or discharge workers who file a complaint or participate in any proceedings under the Act.

Your Company is required by law to display the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Minimum Wage Poster (available in PDF format from the Department of Labor's web site) in conspicuous places in all Company locations.

Note: Certain occupations and establishments are exempt from the minimum wage and/or overtime pay provisions. Special provisions apply to workers in American Samoa. And, where state law requires a higher minimum wage, the higher standard applies.