EMPLOYEE RIGHTS
UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT
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EMPLOYEE RIGHTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT
FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE
$7.25 PER HOUR
BEGINNING JULY 24, 2009
The law requires employers to display this poster where employees can readily see it.
OVERTIME PAY
CHILD LABOR
TIP CREDIT
NURSING
MOTHERS
At least 11⁄2 times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
An employee must be at least 16 years old to work in most non-farm jobs and at least 18 to work
in non-farm jobs declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. Youths 14 and 15 years old may
work outside school hours in various non-manufacturing, non-mining, non-hazardous jobs with
certain work hours restrictions. Different rules apply in agricultural employment.
Employers of “tipped employees” who meet certain conditions may claim a partial wage credit
based on tips received by their employees. Employers must pay tipped employees a cash wage
of at least $2.13 per hour if they claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligation. If an
employee’s tips combined with the employer’s cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal
the minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.
The FLSA requires employers to provide reasonable break time for a nursing mother employee
who is subject to the FLSA’s overtime requirements in order for the employee to express breast
milk for her nursing child for one year after the child’s birth each time such employee has a need
to express breast milk. Employers are also required to provide a place, other than a bathroom,
that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be
used by the employee to express breast milk.
ENFORCEMENT
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
The Department has authority to recover back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages
in instances of minimum wage, overtime, and other violations. The Department may litigate
and/or recommend criminal prosecution. Employers may be assessed civil money penalties for
each willful or repeated violation of the minimum wage or overtime pay provisions of the law.
Civil money penalties may also be assessed for violations of the FLSA’s child labor provisions.
Heightened civil money penalties may be assessed for each child labor violation that results in
the death or serious injury of any minor employee, and such assessments may be doubled when
the violations are determined to be willful or repeated. The law also prohibits retaliating against or
discharging workers who file a complaint or participate in any proceeding under the FLSA.
• Certain occupations and establishments are exempt from the minimum wage, and/or overtime
pay provisions.
• Special provisions apply to workers in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• Some state laws provide greater employee protections; employers must comply with both.
• Some employers incorrectly classify workers as “independent contractors” when they are
actually employees under the FLSA. It is important to know the difference between the two
because employees (unless exempt) are entitled to the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime
pay protections and correctly classified independent contractors are not.
• Certain full-time students, student learners, apprentices, and workers with disabilities may be
paid less than the minimum wage under special certificates issued by the Department of Labor.