DOL Fair Labor Standards Act Fact Sheet

General information on coverage under the FLSA which sets minimum wage overtime recordkeeping and youth employment standards.

This fact sheet provides general information concerning coverage under the FLSA. The FLSA is the Federal law which sets minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards.

The minimum wage for covered nonexempt workers is not less than $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. With only some exceptions, overtime (“time and one-half”) must be paid for work over forty hours a week. Child labor regulations prohibit persons younger than eighteen years old from working in certain jobs and additionally sets rules concerning the hours and times employees under sixteen years of age may work.

More than 130 million American workers are protected (or “covered”) by the FLSA, which is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.

There are two ways in which an employee can be covered by…