(a) The geographical areas within which the employees are to be
deemed ``engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for
commerce'' within the meaning of the Act, and thus within its coverage
are governed by definitions in section 3 (b), (c), and (j). In the
definition of ``produced'' in section 3(j), ``production'' is expressly
confined to described employments ``in any State.'' (See Sec. 776.15
(a).) ``Commerce'' is defined to mean described activities ``among the
several States or between any State and any place outside thereof.''
(See Sec. 776.8.) ``State'' is defined in section 3(c) to mean ``any
State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory
or possession of the United States.''
(b) Under the definitions in paragraph (a) of this section,
employees within the District of Columbia; Puerto Rico; the Virgin
Islands; Outer Continental Shelf lands defined in the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (ch. 345, 67 Stat. 462, 43 U.S.C. 1331); American Samoa;
Guam; Wake Island; Enewetok Atoll; Kwajalein Atoll; Johnston Island; and
the Canal Zone are dealt with on the same basis as employees working in
any of the 50 States.20 Congress did not exercise the
national legislative power over the District of Columbia or the
Territories or possessions referred to by extending the Act to purely
local commerce within them.
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20 An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,
71 Stat. 514 (approved Aug. 30, 1957) provides that no employer shall be
subject to any liability or punishment under the Act with respect to
work performed at any time in work places excluded from the Act's
coverage by this law or for work performed prior to Nov. 29, 1957, on
Guam, Wake Island, or the Canal Zone; or for work performed prior to the
establishment, by the Secretary, of a minimum wage rate applicable to
such work in American Samoa. Work performed by employees in ``a work
place within a foreign country or within territory under the
jurisdiction of the United States'' other than those enumerated in this
paragraph is exempt by this amendment from coverage under the Act. When
part of the work performed by an employee for an employer in any
workweek is covered work performed in any State, it makes no difference
where the remainder of such work is performed; the employee is entitled
to the benefits of the Act for the entire workweek unless he comes
within some specific exemption. The reference in 71 Stat. 514 to
liability for work performed in American Samoa is an extension of the
relief granted by the American Samoa Labor Standards Amendments of 1956
(29 U.S.C. Supp. IV, secs. 206, 213, and 216).
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[15 FR 2925, May 17, 1950, as amended at 35 FR 5543, Apr. 3, 1970]
