Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to the majority of employers. It applies to government organizations and businesses that engage in interstate commerce or provide products and services to businesses. The FLSA establishes standards for employment status, child labor, minimum wage, overtime pay, and record-keeping. It determines who is exempt from the Act (and so not covered by it) and who is not (covered by the Act). When minors are allowed to work, it imposes wage and time limits. It establishes the minimum salary and specifies when overtime must be paid.

The United States Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers who violate the Act knowingly or repeatedly may face fines of up to $10,000 per infringement. Convictions for the second time might result in a fine of $10,000 and/or a 6-month sentence.

The Minimum Wage 

The Federal Government reviews the minimum wage on a regular basis and changes it if necessary. (Note that the FLSA may be superseded by state minimum wage laws.)

Overtime

For any hours worked in excess of 40 in a week, employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must be paid at least one and a half times their regular wage (seven consecutive days).

To compute overtime compensation, the regular rate of pay must be determined, which includes the base rate, bonuses, commissions, piece rates, incentives, shift differentials, and training pay.

Premium pay for Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays under a union contract; pay for time not worked (i.e. vacation, sick leave, holidays); contributions to pension and insurance plans; gifts; employer discretionary bonuses; distributions from profit sharing plans that meet Wage and Hour regulations; contributions to bona fide thrift and savings plans; and longevity pay are all excluded from the regular rate of pay.

Under the Act, certain executives may be excluded from working overtime.

Hours of Work

Work time includes all time spent on an employee’s primary responsibilities as well as other necessary supplementary activities. Productive chores are among the main responsibilities. Work time is compensated if it is used for the benefit of the employer, if it is controlled by the employer, or if it is permitted by the employer. Work time does not include activities that occur before or after an employee’s primary responsibilities.

Child Labor

The FLSA restricts the use of oppressive child labor and limits the amount of time that children are allowed to work. As one’s age declines, the criteria become more stringent. For regulatory purposes, children are separated into three groups: 16 and 17 year olds, 14 and 15 year olds, and all younger children. The hours they can work and the jobs they can do differ from one group to the next. A child is somebody under the age of eighteen. Minors’ employment is usually regulated by states, and the requirements differ from one state to the next.

Full Text of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

[Public — No. 718— 75 th C ongress]
[Chapter 676— 3 d S ession]
[S. 2475]
AN ACT
To provide for the establishment of fair labor standards in employments in and
affecting interstate commerce, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may
be cited as the “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938’’.
FINDING AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

S ec . 2. (a) The Congress hereby finds that the existence, in indus­
tries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce,
o f labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum
standard o f living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well­
being of workers (1) causes commerce and the channels and instru­
mentalities o f commerce to be used to spread and perpetuate such
labor conditions among the workers of the several States; (2) burdens
commerce and the free flow o f goods in commerce; (3) constitutes an
unfair method of competition in commerce; (4) leads to labor disputes
burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of goods in
commerce; and (5) interferes with the orderly and fair marketing of
goods in commerce.

(b)
It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act, through the
exercise by Congress of its power to regulate commerce among the
several States, to correct and as rapidly as practicable to eliminate the
conditions above referred to in such industries without substantially
curtailing employment or earning power.
DEFINITIONS

S ec. 3. As used in this Act—
(a) “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, corpora­
tion, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of
persons.

(b) “ Commerce” means trade, commerce, transportation, transmis­
sion, or communication among the several States or from any State
to any place outside thereof.
(c) “ State” means any State of the United States or the District of
Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States.
(d) “ Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly
in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee but shall not
include the United States or any State or political subdivision of a
State, or any labor organization (other than when acting as an
employer), or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of
such labor organization.
(e) “ Employee” includes any individual employed by an employer.
( f ) “Agriculture” includes farming in all its branches and among
other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying,

 

2

[P ub . 718.]

the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricul­
tural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as
agricultural commodities in section 15 (g) of the Agricultural Mar­
keting Act, as amended), the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing
animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lum­
bering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident
to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including prepara­
tion for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for
transportation to market.
(g) “ Employ” includes to suffer or permit to work.
(h) “Industry” means a trade, business, industry, or branch thereof,
or group of industries, in which individuals are gainfully employed.
(!) “ Goods” means goods (including ships and marine equipment),
wares, products, commodities, merchandise, or articles or subjects oi
commerce of any character, or any part or ingredient thereof, but does
not include goods after their delivery into the actual physical posses­
sion of the ultimate consumer thereof other than a producer, manufac­
turer, or processor thereof.
(j) “ Produced” means produced, manufactured, mined, handled,
or in any other manner worked on in any State; and for the purposes
of this Act an employee shall be deemed to have been engaged in the
production of goods if such employee was employed in producing,
manufacturing, mining, handling, transporting, or in any other man­
ner working on such goods, or in any process or occupation necessary
to the production thereof, in any State.
(k) “ Sale” or “ sell” includes any sale, exchange, contract to sell,
consignment for sale, shipment for sale, or other disposition.
(l) “ Oppressive child labor” means a condition of employment
under which (1) any employee under the age o f sixteen years is
employed by an employer (other than a parent or a person standing in
place of a parent employing his own child or a child in his custody
under the age of sixteen years in an occupation other than manufac­
turing or mining) in any occupation, or (2) any employee between
the ages of sixteen and eighteen years is employed by an employer in
any occupation which the Chief of the Children’s Bureau in the
Department of Labor shall find and by order declare to be particularly
hazardous for the employment of children between such ages or detri­
mental to their health or well-being; but oppressive child labor shall
not be deemed to exist by virtue of the employment in any occupation
of any person with respect to whom the employer shall have on file an
unexpired certificate issued and held pursuant to regulations of the
Chief of the Children’s Bureau certifying that such person is above
the oppressive child-labor age. The Chief of the Children’s Bureau
shall provide by regulation or by order that the employment o f
employees between the ages o f fourteen and sixteen years in occupa­
tions other than manufacturing and mining shall not be deemed to
constitute oppressive child labor if and to the extent that the Chief o f
the Children’s Bureau determines that such employment is confined to
periods which will not interfere with their schooling and to conditions
which will not interfere with their health and well-being.
(m) “Wage” paid to any employee includes the reasonable cost, as
determined by the Administrator, to the employer of furnishing such
employee with board, lodging, or other facilities, if such board, lodg­

 

[ P u b . 718.]

3

ing, or other facilities are customarily furnished by such employer to
his employees.
ADMINISTRATOR

S ec. 4. (a) There is hereby created in the Department of Labor a
Wage and Hour Division which shall be under the direction of an
Administrator, to be known as the Administrator of the Wage and
Hour Division (in this Act referred to as the “Administrator” ) . The
Administrator shall be appointed by the President, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive compensation at
the rate of $10,000 a year.
(b) The Administrator may, subject to the civil-service laws,
appoint such employees as he deems necessary to carry out his func­
tions and duties under this Act and shall fix their compensation in
accordance with the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The
Administrator may establish and utilize such regional, local, or other
agencies, and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services, as
may from time to time be needed. Attorneys appointed under this
section may appear for and represent the Administrator in any litiga­
tion, but all such litigation shall be subject to the direction and control
o f the Attorney General. In the appointment, selection, classification,
and promotion of officers and employees of the Administrator, no
political test or qualification shall be permitted or given consideration,
but all such appointments and promotions shall be given and made
on the basis of merit and efficiency.
(c) The principal office of the Administrator shall be in the District
o f Columbia, but he or his duly authorized representative may exercise
any or all of his powers in any place.
(d) The Administrator shall submit annually in January a report
to the Congress covering his activities for the preceding year and
including such information, data, and recommendations for further
legislation in connection with the matters covered by this Act as he
may find advisable.
INDUSTRY COMMITTEES

S ec. 5. (a) The Administrator shall as soon as practicable appoint
an industry committee for each industry engaged in commerce or in
the production of goods for commerce.
(b) An industry committee shall be appointed by the Administrator
without regard to any other provisions of law regarding the appoint­
ment and compensation of employees of the United States. It shall
include a number of disinterested persons representing the public,
one of whom the Administrator shall designate as chairman, a like
number of persons representing employees in the industry, and a like
number representing employers in the industry. In the appointment
o f the persons representing each group, the Administrator shall give
due regard to the geographical regions in which the industry is
carried on.
(c) Two-thirds of the members of an industry committee shall con­
stitute a quorum, and the decision of the committee shall require a vote
o f not less than a majority of all its members. Members o f an industry
committee shall receive as compensation for their services a reasonable
per diem, which the Administrator shall by rules and regulations
prescribe, for each day actually spent in the work of the committee,

 

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[Pub. 718.]

and sliall in addition be reimbursed for their necessary traveling and
other expenses. The Administrator shall furnish the committee with
adequate legal, stenographic, clerical, and other assistance, and shall
by rules and regulations prescribe the procedure to be followed by the
committee.
(d)
The Administrator shall submit to an industry committee from
time to time such data as he may have available on the matters referred
to it, and shall cause to be brought before it in connection with such
matters any witnesses whom he deems material. An industry com­
mittee may summon other witnesses or call upon the Administrator to
furnish additional information to aid it in its deliberations.
M IN IM U M WAGES

S ec. 6. (a) Every employer shall pay to each o f his employees who
is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce
wages at the follow ing rates—

(1) during the first year from the effective date of this section,
not less than 25 cents an hour,
(2) during the next six years from such date, not less than 30
cents an hour,
(3) after the expiration of seven years from such date, not less
than 40 cents an hour, or the rate (not less than 30 cents an hour)
prescribed in the applicable order of the Administrator issued
under section 8, whichever is lower, and
(4) at any time after the effective date of this section, not less
than the rate (not in excess of 40 cents an hour) prescribed in
the applicable order of the Administrator issued under section 8.
(b)
This section shall take effect upon the expiration of one hun­
dred and twenty days from the date of enactment of this Act.
M A X IM U M HOURS

S ec. 7. (a) No employer shall, except as otherwise provided in
this section, employ any of his employees who is engaged in com­
merce or in the production o f goods for commerce—

(1) for a workweek longer than forty-four hours during the
first year from the effective date of this section,
(2) for a workweek longer than forty-two hours during the
second year from such date, or
(3) for a workweek longer than forty hours after the expira­
tion of the second year from such date,
unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in
excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and
one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.
(b) No employer shall be deemed to have violated subsection (a)
by employing any employee for a workweek in excess of that specified
in such subsection without paying the compensation for overtime
employment prescribed therein if such employee is so employed—
(1) in pursuance of an agreement, made as a result of col­
lective bargaining by representatives of employees certified as
bona fide by the National Labor Relations Board, which provides
that no employee shall be employed more than one thousand
hours during any period of twenty-six consecutive weeks,
(2) on an annual basis in pursuance o f an agreement with
his employer, made as a result o f collective bargaining by Tepre-

 

IPub. 718.]

5

sentatives o f employees certified as bona fide by tbe National
Labor Relations Board, which provides that the employee shall
not be employed more than two thousand hours during any
period of fifty-two consecutive weeks, or
(3)
for a period or periods of not more than fourteen work­
weeks in the aggregate in any calendar year in an industry found
by the Administrator to be of a seasonal nature,
and if such employee receives compensation for employment in excess
of 12 hours in any workday, or for employment in excess of 56 hours
in any workweek, as the case may be, at a rate not less than one and
one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.
(c) In the case of an employer engaged in the first processing
o f milk, whey, skimmed milk, or cream into dairy products, or in
the ginning and compressing of cotton, or in the processing of cotton­
seed, or in the processing of sugar beets, sugar beet molasses, sugar­
cane, or maple sap, into sugar (hut not refined sugar) or into syrup,
the provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to his employees
in any place of employment where he is so engaged; and in the case
o f an employer engaged in the first processing of, or in canning or
packing, perishable or seasonal fresh fruits or vegetables, or in the
first processing, within the area of production (as defined by the
Administrator), of any agricultural or horticultural commodity dur­
ing seasonal operations, or in handling, slaughtering, or dressing
poultry or livestock, the provisions o f subsection (a ), during a period
or periods of not more than fourteen workweeks in the aggregate
in any calendar year, shall not apply to his employees in any place
of employment where he is so engaged.
(d) This section shall take effect upon the expiration of one
hundred and twenty days from the date of enactment of this Act.
WAGE ORDERS

S ec. 8. (a) With a view to carrying out the policy of this Act by
reaching, as rapidly as is economically feasible without substantially
curtailing employment, the objective of a universal minimum wage
o f 40 cents an hour in each industry engaged in commerce or in the
production o f goods for commerce, the Administrator shall from
time to time convene the industry committee for each such industry,
and the industry committee shall from time to time recommend
the minimum rate or rates of wages to be paid under section 6 by
employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for
commerce in such industry or classifications therein.
(b) Upon the convening of an industry committee, the Adminis­
trator shall refer to it the question of the minimum wage rate or
rates to be fixed for such industry. The industry committee shall
investigate conditions in the industry and the committee, or any
authorized subcommittee thereof, may hear such witnesses and receive
such evidence as may be necessary or appropriate to enable the com­
mittee to perform its duties and functions under this Act. The
committee shall recommend to the Administrator the highest mini­
mum wage rates for the industry which it determines, having due
regard to economic and competitive conditions, will not substantially
curtail employment in the industry.

 

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[ P u b . 718.]

(c) The industry committee for any industry shall recommend
such reasonable classifications within any industry as it determines
to be necessary for the purpose of fixing for each classification within
such industry the highest minimum wage rate (not in excess of 40
cents an hour) which (1) will not substantially curtail employment
in such classification and (2) will not give a competitive advantage
to any group in the industry, and shall recommend for each classifi­
cation in the industry the highest minimum wage rate which the
committee determines will not substantially curtail employment in
such classification. In determining whether such classifications should
be made in any industry, in making such classifications, and in deter­
mining the minimum wage rates for such classifications, no classifica­
tion shall be made, and no minimum wage rate shall be fixed, solely
on a regional basis, but the industry committee and the Administrator
shall consider among other relevant factors the following:
(1) competitive conditions as affected by transportation, liv­
ing, and production costs;
(2) the wages established for work of like or comparable
character by collective labor agreements negotiated between
employers and employees by representatives of their own choos­
ing; and
(3) the wages paid for work of like or comparable character
by employers who voluntarily maintain minimum-wage stand­
ards in the industry.
No classification shall be made under this section on the basis of
age or sex.
(d) The industry committee shall file with the Administrator a
report containing its recommendations with respect to the matters
referred to it. Upon the filing of such report, the Administrator,
after due notice to interested persons, and giving them an opportunity
to be heard, shall by order approve and carry into effect the recom­
mendations contained in such report, if he finds that the recommenda­
tions are made in accordance with law, are supported by the evidence
adduced at the hearing, and, taking into consideration the same factors
as are required to be considered by the industry committee, will carry
out the purposes of this section; otherwise he shall disapprove such
recommendations. I f the Administrator disapproves such recom­
mendations, he shall again refer the matter to such committee, or to
another industry committee for such industry (which he may appoint
for such purpose), for further consideration and recommendations.
(e) No order issued under this section with respect to any industry
prior to the expiration of seven years from the effective date of section
6 shall remain in effect after such expiration, and no order shall be
issued under this section with respect to any industry on or after such
expiration, unless the industry committee by a preponderance of the
evidence before it recommends, and the Administrator by a preponder­
ance of the evidence adduced at the hearing finds, that the continued
effectiveness or the issuance o f the order, as the case may be, is neces­
sary in order to prevent substantial curtailment of employment in the
industry.
(f) Orders issued under this section shall define the industries and
classifications therein to which they are to apply, and shall contain
such terms and conditions as the Administrator finds necessary to

 

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7

carry out the purposes o f such orders, to prevent the circumvention or
evasion thereof, and to safeguard the minimum wage rates established
therein. No such order shall take effect until after due notice is given
of the issuance thereof by publication in the Federal Register and
by such other means as the Administrator deems reasonably calculated
to give to interested persons general notice of such issuance.
(g)
Due notice o f any hearing provided for in this section shall be
given by publication in the Federal Register and by such other means
as the Administrator deems reasonably calculated to give general
notice to interested persons.
ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES

S ec . 9. For the purpose of any hearing or investigation provided
for in this Act, the provisions of sections 9 and 10 (relating to the
attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and
documents) o f the Federal Trade Commission Act of September 16,
1914, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 15, secs. 49 and 50), are
hereby made applicable to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of the
Administrator, the Chief o f the Children’s Bureau, and the industry
committees.
c o u r t r e v ie w

S ec . 10. (a) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Administrator
issued under section 8 may obtain a review of such order in the circuit
court of appeals of the United States for any circuit wherein such
person resides or has his principal place o f business, or in the United
States Court of Appeals for the District o f Columbia, by filing in such
court, within sixty days after the entry of such order, a written
petition praying that the order of the Administrator be modified or
set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such petition shall forthwith
be served upon the Administrator, and thereupon the Administrator
shall certify and file in the court a transcript of the record upon which
the order complained of was entered. Upon the filing of such tran­
script such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm, modify, or
set aside such order in whole or in part, so far as it is applicable to the
petitioner. The review by the court shall be limited to questions of
law, and findings o f fact by the Administrator when supported by
substantial evidence shall be conclusive. No objection to the order
of the Administrator shall be considered by the court unless such
objection shall have been urged before the Administrator or unless
there were reasonable grounds for failure so to do. I f application i9
made to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence, and it is
shown to the satisfaction of the court that such additional evidence
may materially affect the result of the proceeding and that there were
reasonable grounds for failure to adduce such evidence in the proceed­
ing before the Administrator, the court may order such additional
evidence to be taken before the Administrator and to be adduced
upon the hearing in such manner and upon such terms and conditions
as to the court may seem proper. The Administrator may modify his
findings by reason o f the additional evidence so taken, and shall file
with the court such modified or new findings which if supported by
substantial evidence shall be conclusive, and shall also file his recom­
mendation, if any, for the modification or setting aside o f the original

 

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[ P u b . 718.]

order. The judgment and decree of the court shall be final, subject
to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari
or certification as provided in sections 239 and 240 of the Judicial
Code, as amended (U. S. C., title 28, secs. 346 and 347).
(b) The commencement of proceedings under subsection (a) shall
not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the
Administrator’s order. The court shall not grant any stay of the
order unless the person complaining of such order shall file in court
an undertaking with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the court for
the payment to the employees affected by the order, in the event such
order is affirmed, of the amount by which the compensation such
employees are entitled to receive under the order exceeds the com­
pensation they actually receive while such stay is in effect.
INVESTIGATIONS, INSPECTIONS, AND RECORDS

S ec. 11. (a) The Administrator or his designated representatives
may investigate and gather data regarding the wages, hours, and
other conditions and practices of employment in any industry sub­
ject to this Act, and may enter and inspect such places and such
records (and make such transcriptions thereof), question such
employees, and investigate such facts, conditions, practices, or mat­
ters as he may deem necessary or appropriate to determine whether
any person has violated any provision of this Act, or which may
aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this Act. Except as
provided in section 12 and in subsection (b) o f this section, the
Administrator shall utilize the bureaus and divisions of the Depart­
ment of Labor for all the investigations and inspections necessary
under this section. Except as provided in section 12, the Admin­
istrator shall bring all actions under section 17 to restrain violations
of this Act.
(b) With the consent and cooperation of State agencies charged
with the administration of State labor laws, the Administrator and
the Chief of the Children’s Bureau may, for the purpose of carry­
ing out their respective functions and duties under this Act, utilize
the services of State and local agencies and their employees and,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, may reimburse such
State and local agencies and their employees for services rendered
for such purposes.
(c) Every employer subject to any provision of this Act or of
any order issued under this Act shall make, keep, and preserve such
records of the persons employed by him and of the wages, hours, and
other conditions and practices of employment maintained by him,
and shall preserve such records for such periods of time, and shall
make such reports therefrom to the Administrator as he shall pre­
scribe by regulation or order as necessary or appropriate for the
enforcement of the provisions of this Act or the regulations or orders
thereunder.
CHILD LABOR PROVISIONS

S ec . 12. (a) x^fter the expiration of one hundred and twenty days

from the date of enactment of this Act, no producer, manufacturer,
or dealer shall ship or deliver for shipment in commerce any goods
produced in an establishment situated in the United States m or
about which within thirty days prior to the removal of such goods
therefrom any oppressive child labor has been employed: Provided,

 

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9

That a prosecution and conviction of a defendant for the shipment
or delivery for shipment of any goods under the conditions herein
prohibited shall be a bar to any further prosecution against the same
defendant for shipments or deliveries for shipment of any such goods
before the beginning o f said prosecution.
(b) The Chief of the Children’s Bureau in the Department of
Labor, or any of his authorized representatives, shall make all inves­
tigations and inspections under section 11 (a) with respect to the
employment of minors, and, subject to the direction and control of
the Attorney General, shall bring all actions under section 17 to
enjoin any act or practice which is unlawful by reason of the exist­
ence of oppressive child labor, and shall administer all other provi­
sions of this Act relating to oppressive child labor.
EXEMPTIONS

S ec. 13. (a) The provisions of sections 6 and 7 shall not apply with
respect to (1) any employee employed in a bona fide executive,
administrative, professional, or local retailing capacity, or in the
capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delim­
ited by regulations of the Administrator); or (2) any employee
engaged in any retail or service establishment the greater part of
whose selling or servicing is in intrastate commerce; or (3) any
employee employed as a seaman; or (4) any employee of a carrier
by air subject to the provisions of title I I of the Railway Labor
A ct; or (5) any employee employed in the catching, taking, harvest­
ing, cultivating, or farming of any kind o f fish, shellfish, Crustacea,
sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable
life, including the going to and returning from work and including
employment m the loading, unloading, or packing of such products
for shipment or in propagating, processing, marketing, freezing,
canning, curing, storing, or distributing the above products or
byproducts thereof; or (6) any employee employed in agriculture;
or (7) any employee to the extent that such employee is exempted by
regulations or orders of the Administrator issued under section 14 ;
or (8) any employee employed in connection with the publication
of any weekly or semiweekly newspaper with a circulation of less
than three thousand the major part of which circulation is within
the county where printed and published; or (9) any employee of a
street, Suburban, or interurban electric railway, or local trolley or
motor bus carrier, not included in other exemptions contained in this
section; or (10) to any individual employed within the area of pro­
duction (as defined by the Administrator), engaged in handling,
packing, storing, ginning, compressing, pasteurizing, drying, pre­
paring in their raw or natural state, or canning of agricultural or
horticultural commodities for market, or in making cheese or butter
or other dairy products.
(b) The provisions of section 7 shall not apply with respect to
(1) any employee with respect to whom the Interstate Commerce
Commission has power to establish qualifications and maximum
hours of service pursuant to the provisions of section 204 of the
Motor Carrier Act, 1935; or (2) any employee of an employer sub­
ject to the provisions of Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act.
(c) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor shall not
apply with respect to any employee employed in agriculture while

 

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[ P u b . 718.1

not legally required to attend school, or to any child employed as an
actor in motion pictures or theatrical productions.
LEARNERS, APPRENTICES, AND HANDICAPPED WORKERS

S ec . 14. The Administrator, to the extent necessary in order to

prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by regu­
lations or by orders provide for (1) the employment of learners, of
apprentices, and o f messengers employed exclusively in delivering
letters and messages, under special certificates issued pursuant to
regulations of the Administrator, at such wages lower than rhe
minimum wage applicable under section 6 and subject to such limi­
tations as to time, number, proportion, and length of service as the
Administrator shall prescribe, and (2) the employment of individuals
whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental
deficiency or injury, under special certificates issued by the Admin­
istrator, at such wages lower than the minimum wage applicable
under section 6 and for such period as shall be fixed in such
certificates.
PROHIBITED ACTS

S ec. 15. (a) After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days
from the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any
person—
(1) to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell
in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that ship­
ment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any
goods in the production of which any employee was employed in
violation of section 6 or section 7, or in violation of any regu­
lation or order of the Administrator issued under section 14;
except that no provision of this Act shall impose any liability
upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce
in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced
by such common carrier, and no provision of this Act shall excuse
any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for
transportation;
(2) to violate any o f the provisions of section 6 or section 7, or
any of the provisions of any regulation or order of the Admin­
istrator issued under section 14;
(3) to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against
any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or
instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or
related to this Act, or has testified or is about to testify in any
such proceeding, or has served or is about to serve on an
industry committee.
(4) to violate any of the provisions of section 12;
(5) to violate any of the provisions of section 11 (c), or to
make any statement, report, or record filed or kept pursuant to
the provisions of such section or of any regulation or order there­
under, knowing such statement, report, or record to be false in a
material respect.
(b)
For the purposes of subsection (a) (1) proof that any employee
was employed in any place of employment where goods shipped or
sold in commerce were produced, within ninety days prior to the
removal of the goods from such place of employment, shall be prima

 

IP u b . 718.]

XI

facie evidence that such employee was engaged in the production
of such goods.
PENALTIES

S ec. 16. (a) Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions
of section 15 shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not
more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more than six months,
or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this subsection except
for an offense committed after the conviction of such person for a
prior offense under this subsection.
(b)
Any employer who violates the provisions of section 6 or
section 7 of this Act shall be liable to the employee or employees affected
in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid over­
time compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal
amount as liquidated damages. Action to recover such liability may
be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by any one or
more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other
employees similarly situated, or such employee or employees may
designate an agent or representative to maintain such action for and
in behalf of all employees similarly situated. The court in such
action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff or
plaintiffs, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee to be paid by the defendant,
and costs of the action.
INJU NCTION PROCEEDINGS

S ec . 17. The district courts of the United States and the United
States courts of the Territories and possessions shall have jurisdiction,
for cause shown, and subject to the provisions of section 20 (relating
to notice to opposite party) of the Act entitled “An Act to supplement
existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for
other purposes” , approved October 15, 1914, as amended (U. S. C.,
1934 edition, title 28, sec. 381), to restrain violations of section 15.
RELATION TO OTHER LAWS

S ec . 18. No provision of this Act or of any order thereunder shall
excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal
ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum
wage established under this Act or a maximum workweek lower than
the maximum workweek established under this Act, and no provision
of this Act relating to the employment of child labor shall justify
noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance
establishing a higher standard than the standard established under
this Act. No provision of this Act shall justify any employer in
reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable
minimum wage under this Act, or justify any employer in increasing
hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the
maximum hours applicable under this Act.
SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS

Sec . 19. If any provision of this Act or the application of such
provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder
o f the Act and the application of such provision to other persons
or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Approved, June 25, 1938.

 

SEE ALSO:

Women in Factories (1908);

The Child Labor Act of 1916;

The National Labor Relations Act (1935);

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970).

 

SOURCES:

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Full Text of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250 Milestones in the History of Law (Sterling Milestones) Hardcover – Illustrated, 22 Oct. 2015, English edition by Michael H. Roffer (Autor)