Fact Sheet #14: Coverage Under the FLSA

Basic understanding on the FLSA Fact Sheet#14

The FLSA is a Federal law procedure that is responsible in setting minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards.

The minimum wage for covered nonexempt workers is not less than $7.25 per hour as of July 24, 2009. There are some exceptions regarding overtime ("time and one-half") must be paid for work over forty hours a week. However, Child labor regulations prohibit younger person that is less than eighteen years old from working in certain jobs and addedd sets rules concerning the hours and times for employees apply below sixteen years old.

There are more than 130 million American workers which are protected (or "covered") by the FLSA, that 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 this law:

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:

(1) those that have an annual dollar volume of sales or business done of at least $500,000

(2) hospitals, businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents, schools and preschools, and government agencies

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"). The FLSA 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...

Also, domestic service workers (such as housekeepers, full-time babysitters, and cooks) are normally covered by the law.

Source: dol. gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.htm