What is the Fair Standards Labor Act?
In 1938, the federal government introduced the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA), which establishes protection for workers in regards to their labor requirements, including employee guidelines such as the 40-hour hour workweek, a national minimum wage, and the time and a half overtime pay.
Pay & Overtime
While the FLSA does set basic minimum wage and overtime pay standards, there are a number of employment practices which FLSA does not regulate, therefore, the FSLA does not require the following:
- Vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay
- Meal or rest periods, holidays off, or vacations
- Premium pay for weekend or holiday work
- Pay raises or fringe benefits
- A discharge notice, reason for discharge, or immediate payment of final wages to terminated employees
Much like with pay raises, the FSLA does not require that an employer pays their employee for any of these days not worked, and is a matter of an agreement between you and your employer. The FSLA also does not require that an employer provide you with a pay increase, also making this a matter of an agreement between you and your employer.
When it comes to overtime laws, the FSLA requires that an employee is paid time and a half for any hours worked over 40 hours in a week, but only if the employee is considered non-exempt. And while the FSLA does not require that employees be paid extra for work performed on the weekends or at night, they do, however, require that an employee is paid overtime for this time, if they worked more than 40 hours that week.
The best thing to do if you are experiencing any wage or overtime issues or have a concern with your employment rights, is to contact the employment attorneys at Maduff & Maduff immediately.