Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Regulations Protect Workers

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The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), also called the Wages and Hours Bill governs the payment of wages for most employees in the United States.

The measure was first written in 1932 by Sen. Hugo Black of Alabama. The senator was s a staunch supporter of individual rights. Black would go on to be one of the longest-serving justices of the Supreme Court.

It took several years for the bill to become law. One key sticking point was that the earliest version of the law mandated a 30-hour work week. However, this provision was amended, and  a 40-hour work week was in the final version of the law.

One key component of the FLSA was the establishment of a minimum wage, the lowest wage a company can pay their employees. Under federal law, employers must be paid a certain base wage. It has been periodically amended, and some states have their own, higher minimum wage.

There is one special exception to FLSA’s minimum wage rules — food servers and others in specific service industry jobs can be paid a special, lower minimum wage. However, this is with the understanding that tips will make up the difference, and if they do not, the employer is obligated to pay the servers more to compensate.

One area where the federal law was somewhat vague was practices like tipping pools and service charges. However, recent minimum wage class action lawsuits in various state courts have helped make this clearer.

It has been established by legal precedence that a service charge must meet one of two standards. In the first scenario, the service fee must either go directly to the employees, with none taken out. Alternatively, an employer may take a portion of the service charge if they explicitly state that this is the case to customers. Tipping pools are permitted in certain very specific situations.

The federal law requires that an employer must pay special wages, if an employee works more than 40-hours a week. Specifically, employers are required to pay 1.5 times the employee’s regular wage (“time and a half”) for any hours over  40-hours a week. However, the FLSA does not require extra wages for night or weekend hours if the total hours per week add up to less than 40 hours.

FLSA Minimum Wage Class Action Lawsuits

Breaches of the FLSA have resulted in class action lawsuits against restaurants and food service companies alleging violations of the federal law.

Typically, these take the from of class action lawsuits, or MDLs, two different types of group lawsuits or mass torts. In class action lawsuits, a group of plaintiffs file a single lawsuit together. In MDLs different people file lawsuits across different jurisdictions which are later formed into a single coordinate legal proceeding.

Companies break the FLSA for a number of reasons. Breaches may take place out of employers’ efforts to cut costs. Often, employers may honestly confuse the provisions of the FLSA and other laws. Others may count on employees’ ignorance of their rights. But regardless of the cause, employers have the option to seek legal redress to get their rightful wages.

File a Minimum Wage Class Action Lawsuit Today

If your employer has violated your rights under the FLSA, you need to take action immediately. You can start by visiting the Minimum Wage Lawsuits: Service Charge, Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can enter information about your situation for a legal review by a trained expert with a background in this type of litigation. The initial consultation is completely free of charge, and from it, you can receive additional guidance on the best steps to take in your exact situation.