Fair Labor Standards Act in a nutshell
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law enacted in 1938, which establishes standards for minimum employment and working conditions. The FLSA applies to private businesses, state and local governments, individuals performing services under contract to the government, and federal government employees.
The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State and local governments. The FLSA was amended several times by the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947, the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (also known as the Taft-Hartley Act), the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay the minimum wage, in all hours worked, and overtime at a rate of time-and-a-half for any hours worked over 40 in a given work week. The FLSA also contains a recordkeeping provision. While some states have their own minimum wage laws, many do not. Even if your state has its own law, employees are entitled to the federal minimum wage as well.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), passed in 1938 and intended to establish a national minimum wage, overtime pay for certain employees, and child labor standards including the 40 hour work week, was the first major law affecting working conditions in the United States. It established the federal minimum wage, overtime pay rates and record-keeping requirements by requiring employers to keep time records. The FLSA also prohibited oppressive child labor. The FLSA sets up exclusions from its overtime pay requirements, such as seniority systems, independent contractors and other specific workers who may be exempt.