As a small business owner you will need to comply with federal wage and hour laws. The information and resources provided here will help you explore requirements and compliance guidelines.
Fair Labor Standards
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting full-time and part-time employees in federal, state and local governments.
Provides a guide to the FSLA.
Offers advice on complying with the minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor and recordkeeping laws enforced by U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division.
Gives compliance assistance resources from the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL concerning various requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Provides a tool to help workers and employers identify workers who are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay protections.
Aids understanding of rule of Section 14(c) of the FFLSA, which authorizes employers, after receiving a certificate from the DOL's Wage and Hour Division, to pay special minimum wages less than the Federal minimum wage to workers who have disabilities for the work being performed.
Offers a range of guidance materials available on the subject of work hours. Under the FLSA, the term work hours generally refers to time spent by employees performing work for their employers for which they are entitled to compensation. Federal laws pertaining to work hours are enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL's Employment Standards Administration.
Minimum Wage Laws
Provides a map linking to information on state minimum wage laws.
Answers questions ranging from "How often does the minimum wage increase?" to "Who ensures that workers are paid at least the minimum wage?"
Gives instruction for poster display requirements prescribed by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division. Every employer of workers with disabilities under special minimum wage certificates authorized by the FLSA, the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, and/or the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act need to display a poster that explains the conditions under which special minimum wages may be paid.
Overtime Pay
Provides access to the FairPay website, designed to help users understand the DOL's overtime regulations.
Equal Pay
Supplies resources to helps employees and employers understand their rights and responsibilities under federal equal pay laws with regard to compensation discrimination.
Wage Garnishment
Provides information on wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), which protect employees from discharge by their employers because their wages have been garnished for any one debt. The CCPA also limits the amount of an employee's earnings that may be garnished in any one week.
Lists frequently asked questions about an employer's responsibilities when an employee's income is ordered withheld because of child support payments.
Explains requirements of withholding an employee's income due to outstanding child support payments.
Supplies a handbook about wage garnishment procedures for businesses with employees that have defaulted on student loans.
Wage Laws for Specific Types of Workers
Federal Contractors
Provides information on how the DOL's Wage and Hour Division administers laws and regulations requiring minimum wages and fringe benefits to be paid to workers performing construction work on federally-funded contracts or providing services to the federal government.
Foreign Labor
Covers the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or permanent basis to perform certain types of work. The DOL's Employment and Training Administration generally grants certification to employers to obtain special visas in order to hire foreign workers in cases where there are insufficient qualified U.S. workers available and willing to perform work at wages that meet or exceed the prevailing wage paid for that occupation in the area of intended employment.
Seasonal and Migrant Workers
Outlines the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, which removes the restraints on commerce caused by activities detrimental to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers; requires farm labor contractors to register under this Act; and assures necessary protections for migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, agricultural associations and agricultural employers.
Provides information on the obligations of employers of agricultural workers, including migrant and seasonal agricultural workers.
General Resources
Helps employers determine which laws administered by the DOL apply to their business or organization and to provide links to information about how to comply with these laws.
Provides a shortcut to the information and services the DOL offers on wages.
Provides a shortcut to the information and services the DOL offers on the number of worked hours.
Explains how the DOL administers several laws that affect the wages and hours of covered workers. The FLSA requires payment of no less than the federal minimum wage for each hour worked and time and one-half the employee's regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in the workweek for non-exempt workers. Most migrant and seasonal workers engaged in agriculture are protected by the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The INA allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or permanent basis to perform certain types of work.
