Overview
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which was first enacted in 1938, includes
minimum wage, overtime pay and child labor protections for workers in the United
States. The FLSA has always included exemptions for certain executive, administrative,
professional and outside sales workers. More recently, the Congress added exemptions
for certain types of occupations in the computer field.
To help workers and employers understand their rights and responsibilities under
the Regulations, Part 541, the Department has developed this FLSA Overtime Security
Advisor. DOL recently updated these regulations which became effective August
23, 2004. The Overtime Security Advisor is intended to help workers and employers
identify:
- Those workers who are entitled to the minimum wage and overtime pay protections of the FLSA; and
- Those who, by law, are not subject to the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.
Nothing in the FLSA or the Department's Regulations prevent an employer from
paying a worker at or above the minimum wage or overtime pay even if the worker is
not, by law, subject to the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements.
The Overtime Security Advisor is intended to provide only general guidance.
Actual application must be made on a case-by-case basis.
The Labor Department - which has set new records for aggressive Wage and Hour enforcement -
now has strong new standards in place to better protect workers' pay. As an employer, if you
have additional questions to ensure that your workers are properly classified, please call
1-866-4USWAGE. As a worker, if you feel you are improperly being denied overtime, please go
to www.dol.gov/fairpay where you can learn more about your FLSA rights and be directed on how
to file a complaint with the Department of Labor, or if you have questions call 1-866-4USWAGE.
Before using this Advisor, you may want to review a brief explanation of
what the FLSA requires and
what the FLSA does NOT require.
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