Fair Labor Standards Act Overview for Small Businesses

As part of our employment and labor law discussion for small businesses, we recently discussed small business owners’ legal responsibilities under federal employment anti-discrimination laws. Today, we are continuing this discussion by providing a general overview of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is the U.S. federal labor law that gives simple workplace protections to most U.S. workers and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

In general, the FLSA applies to: employees individually covered by the law when they are engaged in the production of goods for commerce or in interstate commerce; or employees of enterprises that generate an annual gross volume of business done or sales made totaling $500,000 or more. However, employees of the following entities are covered by the FLSA regardless of the amount of gross volume of sales or business done. These entities include: businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents; hospitals; public agencies; and not-for-profit or for profit schools.

Furthermore, the FLSA guarantees workers covered by the FLSA no less than the federal minimum wage for every hour worked, and overtime. When workers work more than 40 hours in a workweek, overtime is provided to them at one and-one-half times workers’ regular rates of pay. If a city or state establishes a more protective wage and hour standard than the FLSA’s nationwide standard, then the more protective standard applies in that city or state.

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*This blog post should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only.