Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay

Are you presently employed? Then, you are part of the booming workforce in the country today covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Any queries with regards to the minimum wages and overtime pay? The FLSA is the law which establishes the standards for these as well as record - keeping and child labor. You are affected by these standards along with 100 million workers, both full-time and part-time, in private and public sectors.

To be more particular, if you are an employee in enterprises that engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce, then the FLSA applies to you. For most firms, a test of not less than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business applies.

But FLSA also cover hospitals, institutions primarily engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill or disabled who reside on the premises, schools for mentally or physically disabled or gifted, preschools, elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education, and federal, state and local government agencies, regardless of their dollar volume of business. So if you are a worker in these enterprises and establishments, don't fret.

The FLSA, however, does not cover executives, professionals, administrative employees, small farm employees, computer specialists and apprentice.

According to the FLSA, employers must pay a set amount of minimum wage; pay some employees for overtime pay for work rendered in more that 40 hours in their work week; pay the same wages to all employees doing the same job, regardless of their race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability.

The Federal minimum wage as provided for by FLSA, as of Fall 2001 is $5.15 per hour. Meanwhile, some States have higher minimum wage requirements. There's no limitation on the number of hours an employer can require an employee to work. The important thing is that you, as a worker should be paid for that time.

In a workweek, meanwhile, there is a standard time of 40 hours. With due consideration to the exemption rule, an employee will received overtime pay upon working more than 40 hours in a workweek. Usually, overtime pay for a particular workweek must be paid during the normal payday for that workweek/

When one "works", it includes, generally, doing activities that are integral part of your job, travel that will take you away from time to time, sometimes from training seminars during work hours and "on-call" or "beeper" time, if there's a need for you to restrict your activities during the given time.

The minimum wage and the overtime pay under the FLSA is designed to give you good compensation as an employee. Still, there are many ways of proving your worth for good compensation and start with the best work attitude.