by Stephen D. Hans | Jul 18, 2024 | Wage and Hour Compliance
The Requirements Placed on Employers The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides substantial federal protections for workers, including guarantees with respect wages and hours. Though an employer need not willfully engage in violations of wage and hour laws to have liability, the potential sanctions for willful infringement of an employee’s federal rights can be severe, including criminal prosecution. What Are the Basic Wage Protections under the FSLA? The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes a federal minimum wage for non-exempt employees. The current federal minimum wage, which has remained unchanged for 15 years, is $7.25 per hour. All but five states (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and South Carolina) have enacted their own minimum wage laws. Most have minimum wages higher than the federal rate. Two (Georgia and Wyoming) have rates below the federal minimum and seven simply adopt the federal minimum wage. Nonetheless, the federal minimum wage overrides state law when the state law falls below federal minimum wage. What Are the Basic Hour/Overtime Protections under Federal Law? The Fair Labor Standards Act also requires that employers pay overtime to any non-exempt worker who puts in more than 40 hours during a week. Overtime pay is set at 1.5 times the regular hourly rate. How Is an Exempt Employee Defined? A wide range of employees may potentially be exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act: Executive, administrative, professional and outside sales workers earning more than $23,600 per year Many commissioned salespeople Some computer professionals Workers on small farms Employees of seasonal and recreational businesses What the Fair Labor Standards Act Does Not Require Though the FLSA affords...
