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Under the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA), industrial homework (also called "piecework") means
the production by any covered person in a home, apartment, or room in a
residential establishment, of goods for an employer who permits or authorizes
such production, regardless of the source (whether obtained from an employer or
elsewhere) of the materials used by the homeworker in producing these items.
The performance of certain types of industrial homework is
prohibited under the FLSA unless the employer has obtained prior certification
from the Department of Labor. Restrictions apply in the manufacture of knitted
outerwear, gloves and mittens, buttons and buckles, handkerchiefs,
embroideries, and jewelry, if there are no safety and health hazards. The
manufacture of women's apparel (and jewelry under hazardous conditions) is
generally prohibited. All individually covered homework is subject to the
FLSA's minimum wage,
overtime, and
recordkeeping
requirements. Employers must provide workers with handbooks to record time,
expenses, and pay information.
DOL Web Pages on This
Topic
Fact Sheet on
Homeworkers Under the FLSA
Provides general information concerning the
application of the FLSA to industrial homeworkers.
Fact Sheet on the
Employment Relationship Under the FLSA
The FLSA covers homeworkers as
employees and entitles them to all benefits of the law.
Bureau
of Labor Statistics' Monthly Labor Review (MLR) Article: "Home-Based Workers:
Data from the 1990 Census"
Analysis of the home-based worker.
MLR
Article: "Work at Home: Data from the Current Population Survey"
Interest in home-based work has grown in recent years. Several towns in the
rural west are even recruiting home-based businesses as an economic development
strategy.
What Kinds of Work Can
Youth Perform?
Information from the elaws FLSA Advisor.
Employment Law Guide:
Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay
Information about minimum wage, overtime
pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards.
Handy Reference Guide
to the Fair Labor Standards Act
Answers many questions about the FLSA
and gives information about certain occupations that are exempt from the
Act.
Laws & Regulations on This
Topic
Regulations
Title 29, Chap. V, Part 530
Regulations on industrial homework.
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