(a) The Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 was approved May 4, l947.1
It contains provisions which, in certain circumstances, affect the
rights and liabilities of employees and employers with regard to alleged
underpayments of minimum or overtime wages under the provisions of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,2 the Walsh-Healey Public
Contracts Act, and the Bacon-Davis Act. The Portal Act also establishes
time limitations for the bringing of certain actions under these three
Acts, limits the jurisdiction of the courts with respect to certain
claims, and in other respects affects employee suits and proceedings
under these Acts.
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1 An act to relieve employers from certain liabilities
and punishments under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended,
the Walsh-Healey Act, and the Bacon-Davis Act, and for other purposes
(61 Stat. 84; 29 U.S.C., Sup., 251 et seq.).
2 52 Stat. 1060, as amended; 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq. In the
Fair Labor Standards Act, the Congress exercised its power over
interstate commerce to establish basic standards with respect to minimum
and overtime wages and to bar from interstate commerce goods in the
production of which these standards were not observed. For the nature of
liabilities under this Act, see footnote 17.
For the sake of brevity, this Act is referred to in the following
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discussion as the Portal Act.
(b) It is the purpose of this part to outline and explain the major
provisions of the Portal Act as they affect the application to employers
and employees of the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The
effect of the Portal Act in relation to the Walsh-Healey Act and the
Bacon-Davis Act is not within the scope of this part, and is
not discussed herein. Many of the provisions of the Portal Act do not
apply to claims or liabilities arising out of activities engaged in
after the enactment of the Act. These provisions are not discussed at
length in this part,\3\ because the primary purpose of this part is to
indicate the effect of the Portal Act upon the future administration and
enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act, with which the
Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division is charged under the law.
The discussion of the Portal Act in this part is therefore directed
principally to those provisions that have to do with the application of
the Fair Labor Standards Act on or after May 14, 1947.
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3 Sections 790.23 through 790.29 in the prior edition of
this part 790 have been omitted in this revision because of their
obsolescence in that they dealt with those sections of the Act
concerning activities prior to May 14, 1947, the effective date of the
Portal-to-Portal Act.
(c) The correctness of an interpretation of the Portal Act, like the
correctness of an interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, can be
determined finally and authoritatively only by the courts. It is
necessary, however, for the Administrator to reach informed conclusions
as to the meaning of the law in order to enable him to carry out his
statutory duties of administration and enforcement. It would seem
desirable also that he makes these conclusions known to persons affected
by the law.4 Accordingly, as in the case of the
interpretative bulletins previously issued on various provisions of the
Fair Labor Standards Act, the interpretations set forth herein are
intended to indicate the construction of the law which the
Administration believes to be correct 5 and which will guide
him in the performance of his administrative duties under the Fair Labor
Standards Act, unless and until he is directed otherwise by
authoritative rulings of the courts or concludes, upon reexamination of
an interpretation, that it is incorrect. As the Supreme Court has
pointed out, such interpretations provide a practical guide to employers
and employees as to how the office representing the public interest in
6 enforcement of the law will seek to apply it. As has been
the case in the past with respect to other interpretative bulletins, the
Administrator will receive and consider statements suggesting change of
any interpretation contained in this part.
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4 See Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134; Kirschbaum
Co. v. Walling, 316 U.S. 517; Portal-to-Portal Act, sec. 10.
5 The interpretations expressed herein are based on
studies of the intent, purpose, and interrelationship of the Fair Labor
Standards Act and the Portal Act as evidenced by their language and
legislative history, as well as on decisions of the courts establishing
legal principles believed to be applicable in interpreting the two Acts.
These interpretations have been adopted by the Administrator after due
consideration of relevant knowledge and experience gained in the
administration of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and after
consultation with the Solicitor of Labor.
6 Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134. See also Roland
Electrical Co. v. Walling, 326 U.S. 657; United States v. American
Trucking Assn., 310 U.S. 534; Overnight Motor Transp. Co. v. Missel, 316
U.S. 572.
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[12 FR 7655, Nov. 18, 1947, as amended at 35 FR 7383, May 12, 1970]
