Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in June 1938 as part of the Second New Deal legislation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945; served 1933–45). It is also known as the Wages and Hours Bill because it placed federal standards on both minimum wages and maximum work hours. It was the first piece of legislation to successfully put federal requirements on such aspects of business. It is also the bill that eliminated most child labor in the United States.

The Fair Labor Standards Act originally was limited in scope. It first applied only to businesses that engaged in or affected interstate commerce. The federal government used its power under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution to pass the act. Organizations whose business remained within a state without crossing into other states continued to be regulated only by state law.

The act set a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour to be slowly increased to 40 cents over time. Time-and-a-half pay was required for work over a normal full week of hours. That normal week was defined under the bill as 44 hours the first year, 42 the second, then finally 40 after that. Standards for keeping track of an employee's hours and wages were developed and regulated.

The Fair Labor Standards Act was significant for banning child labor under the age of sixteen. Some exceptions were made, including in the agricultural industry and some family businesses. Certain hazardous jobs, such as mining and factory jobs, were restricted to those over eighteen.

The legislation proved to be controversial among politicians and employers, although it was popular with the general public. There were many gaps in the final legislation as a result of political compromises. The act has been revised by more than twenty amendments since its passage to fix some of these shortcomings. The Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the 1941 case of United States v. Darby Lumber Company. The act continues to be enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor through workplace inspections and audits.