Decoding The Fair Labor Standards Act

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has set forth a number of employment and labor laws that businesses must abide by to be in compliance. In order to meet this compliance, the DOL states that employers must post federal labor law posters in their place of business, which stipulate the laws that must be followed. Of these labor law posters, one of the most basic includes information set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Some people may not take the time to read the fine print, but these laws are rather elementary and should be learned and reviewed on a regular basis by employers.

In general, the FLSA includes laws relating to minimum wage and overtime wages, most of which affect both the public and private sectors. This law requires that employers pay employees covered under this law at least the minimum federal wage of $7.25 and overtime of time and a half. All states have their own minimum wage standards (and these state labor law posters must all be posted in plain view). The FLSA also covers minimum wages for tipped employees, which is currently set at $2.13 an hour.

The FLSA also sets forth some laws for child labor, including the number of hours that youth under the age of sixteen can work at a job, as well as the types of occupations that youth under the age of eighteen are restricted from, including anything that may be considered too dangerous or hazardous. The FLSA breaks down child labor laws by agricultural occupations and non-agricultural occupations. Though the FLSA and the Department of Labor do not require children to have a work permit, some states do. The DOL has established a website called "Youth Rules" to help aid teens and their parents with questions regarding the FLSA and other child labor laws.

The FLSA also sets forth standards for record keeping, which businesses must abide by to be in compliance. For example, every employer must keep accurate information about the employee, the hours they"ve worked and the wages they"ve earned. This includes the following: name, address, birthday, sex, occupation, pay rate, additions or deductions, wages by day, week and/or pay period, date of payment and dates covered by payment.

The FLSA laws apply to full and part time workers and to federal, state and local governments. For any questions regarding the FLSA, the Federal government has created compliance assistance materials available on their website.