The US government Wages and Hours division has set certain minimum
guidelines for the payment and treatment of employees. These guidelines
are enforceable by federal law.
The most important of these guidelines is the federal Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA), which sets minimum wage, overtime
pay, child employment rules, and recordkeeping
for employees.
Does the FLSA apply to you?
The FLSA applies if an "employer-employee relationship"
has been established.
An "employer-employee relationship" is generally
thought to have been established If the employer determines the type
of work performed by the employee and the way it is performed,
as well as the hours the employee is to perform it. See FLSA
guidelines to determine whether your employees qualify under the rule.
Minimum wage: workers covered
by FLSA are entitled to a minimum wage of $5.85 an hour (effective July 24, 2007). This wage is
liable to change over time.
Overtime Pay: workers
covered by the FLSA are entitled to be paid 1 1/2 times their regular
rate for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours of work in a workweek.
A workweek is defined as a period of
seven consecutive days of 24 hours each. In computing overtime pay,
the employer may not average hours over two or more workweeks. For example,
if your employee works 56 hours the first week and only 24 hours the
second week, he or she is still entitled to 16 hours of overtime pay
for the first week. The law does not require overtime payment for work
performed over 8 hours in a day, only over 40 hours.
! Overtime pay is known commonly as "time-and-a-half".
! The overtime requirement may not be waived
by agreement between the employer and employee.
For more info on wages and hours call toll-free 1-866-4USWAGE (en espanol
o ingles) or call the Miami number of the Division of Wages and Hours
district branch at 305-596-9874 ext. 8771 (en espanol o ingles).
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