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Fair Labor Standards Act Overview
The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA for short, is a federal law that entitles workers to certain rights when it comes to wages, work hours, breaks, and overtime. The FLSA also provides standards for children who work.
The Fair Labor Standards Act is a complex law. Not all workers are covered by its standards all of the time and some may be totally exempt.
In addition, each state has its own set of employment laws that may provide workers additional protections. Further, some other federal laws, like the Railway Labor Act, may protect workers in certain specific industries.
FLSA Requirements
Workers who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, or classified as non-exempt, have rights to minimum wages, overtime pay, and meal and rest breaks under the law.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour under the FLSA. While this has not changed, many states have enacted their own, higher minimum wages.
Additionally, under the FLSA, employers are required to either keep non-exempt workers to a 40-hour work week or pay them extra, often called “overtime.” While most salaried workers are exempt from overtime pay, non-exempt workers are entitled to one and a half times their pay rate for hours worked over forty in any given work week.
It should be noted that, in addition to FLSA overtime requirements, certain states have additional protections. For example, in California, employees who work over eight hours in a day may be entitled to overtime pay.
FLSA Misclassification
In order to cut expenses, some employers may try to classify workers as either exempt from the FLSA or as independent contractors. However, if certain standards are not met in either of these scenarios, workers may be misclassified and miss out on important employee protections.
Generally, professional employees who are salaried are classified as exempt under the FLSA. These employees are not entitled to overtime pay. However, one of the most common violations of the FLSA is misclassification of a non-exempt employee as exempt.
Additionally, as the so-called “gig economy” expands, more workers find themselves classified as “independent contractors.” In certain circumstances, this makes sense, but independent contractors are exempt from protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuits
Workers may be able to use the FLSA to hold employers accountable for violating their rights. Common violations alleged in Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits include:
- Failure to pay the minimum wage
- Failure to pay overtime
- Failure to provide meal and rest breaks
- Unfair deductions from paychecks
- Misclassification of employees as exempt or as independent contractors
- Forcing workers to continue to work without pay, often by requiring workers to show up early or keep working while not on the clock after a shift.
Unfortunately, employers have been known to retaliate against workers seeking to enforce their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, the FSLA provides protection for employees who claim that their employer is not paying fair wages under the law.
In fact, if a company is found to have illegally retaliated against an employee, it may be subject to additional fines. Further, if the worker was fired over their FLSA claims, the company may also be required to pay back wages or for other damages.
Employment Law Attorneys
As noted above, the Fair Labor Standards Act is a complex law. An experienced attorney can help workers who know or suspect that their rights are being violated and also take into account other federal or state laws that may apply to their case.
An experienced labor law attorney will recognize that it is intimidating to take on an employer over pay or other possible FLSA violations and work to protect their clients.
