Submitted by: Submitted by MeganRoehrig
Views: 103
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Category: US History
Date Submitted: 05/07/2014 08:45 PM
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was passed by Congress on June 25th, 1938. The main objective of the act was to eliminate “labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standards of living necessary for health, efficiency and well-being of workers,” (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman 750-65) which is administered by the United States Department of Labor. The Act engaged with directly and indirectly interstate commerce, including those involved in production of goods bound for such commerce.
A major provision of the act established maximum work week and minimum wage. Other provisions set standards for overtime compensation and banned products of child labor from interstate commerce. The child labor provisions are designed to protect the educational opportunities of minors and prohibit their employment in jobs and under conditions detrimental to their health or well-being. The provisions include restrictions on hours of work for minors; no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day, or 40 hours in a non-school week. Also, work may not begin before 7a.m., nor end after 7p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended to 9p.m. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) was also created by the Department of Labor. The purpose of this division was to accelerate the raising standards within an industry if, a committee recommended change.
The Fair Labor Standards Act has been amended repeatedly in subsequent decades, with changes expanding the classes of workers covered, raising the minimum wage, redefining regular-time work, raising overtime payments to encourage the hiring of new workers, and equalizing pay scales for men and women.
The FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime payment for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional, outside sales employees, and certain computer employees. To qualify for exemption, employees...