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The
Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") is one of the
oldest labor laws, and thus has influenced the
various other
Federal Labor Laws
enacted later.
For example, Equal Pay Act, which requires equal pay for equal work
regardless of gender, was included in the FLSA in 1963. Additionally,
even though the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, is an Act
independent of the FLSA, however, it incorporates the remedial
scheme of the FLSA, and provides employees with the remedies
and damages under the FLSA. Finally, there are laws for the
protection of employees working federally funded projects—such as
the Davis-Bacon Act, the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act, the
Service Contract Act; and the Contract Work Hours and Safety
Standards Act which also overlap the FLSA.
We have provided an
overview of other federal laws, and
links to other
federal labor related laws.
Below are some
of the other federal laws that interact and overlap the FLSA:
The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963, included
in the FLSA, prohibits an employer from discriminating amongst
employees based on sex. The EPA prohibits an employer from
paying employees of one sex less than employees of the opposite sex
for work done in similar working conditions on jobs that require
equal skill, effort and responsibility. The EPA requires
equal pay for equal work. The EPA protects both sexes are equally,
and the EPA prohibits an employer from reducing the wage of an
employee so as to comply with the law. The work does not have to
identical but only substantially equal for it to be considered
equal.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(FMLA) requires employers of 50 or more employees to provide up to
12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period. The employee
has the right to take leave for any of the following purposes:
employee’s own serious health condition; birth of a child; adoption
of a child or placement of a foster child; and/or to care for a sick
child, spouse, or parent.
The 2008 amendments to
the FMLA require employers to provide leave to employees with spouses, children, or
parents who are now serving on (or who have been called up for)
active duty in the military. If those loved ones become seriously
ill or injured while on duty, the employer may be required to extend
the leave up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave each year.
The FMLA requires that the employee be
offered the same or an equivalent job upon his or her return to
work. Also, the employer must maintain group health insurance
coverage during the period of FMLA leave. The remedies for
violations of the FMLA are modeled upon those contained in the FLSA.
That is, an employee is entitled to damages for lost wages,
liquidated damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and other injunctive
and equitable relief. Just like the FLSA, the FMLA has a two-year
statute-of-limitations, unless the violation is willful and in
that case a three-year limitation period applies.
Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)
The Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) provides employment (and
reemployment) rights and benefits to employees who take leave from
work to engage in military service. The USERRA does not require that
employers pay their employees during their military leave, but employers must allow
their workers to use any accrued vacation, annual or other leave
with pay during their military leave. Generally, upon
return from military service, the employee must be reinstated
to an "escalator position," i.e., in a position that the
employee would have attained with reasonable certainty if not for the
absence due to uniformed service.
Under the FLSA, for a white-collar
exempt employee who is paid on salary basis, the
employers
cannot make deductions from pay for absences of exempt employees
caused by "temporary military leave." Temporary military leave
is meant to be short-term training periods (which can be as long as
three months) for reservists or members
of the National Guard, as opposed to longer periods of enlistment or
draft. That is, for salaried exempt employees who are on temporary
military leave, the employer cannot reduce their pay for a week when
employee
spends part of his or her time during such a week on leave and part of
their time working, however, the employer may offset the pay by the
pay earned by the employee in the military.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
of 1967 (ADEA) prohibits discrimination n employment against
individuals based on age. The ADEA only protects individuals over 40
years of age. By reference, the ADEA incorporates the FLSA's remedial scheme into the statute.
That is, the remedies under the ADEA are
supposed to follow those provided in the FLSA. However, courts have
used other discrimination law to interpret the ADEA. For
example, courts have used different standards in defining "willful violations" for purposes of
the statute of limitations.
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural
Workers
Congress enacted the Farm Labor Contractor
Registration Act in 1963 (FLCRA) and then amended that law by
enacting the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act
of 1983 (MSPA) which regulates conditions of employment imposed by farm labor contractors, agricultural
employers and agricultural associations' users to protect migrant
and seasonal agricultural workers. Remedies for violations of
the MSPA include possible criminal action, private civil action and
civil money penalties. The MSPA is enforced by
Department of
Labor's Wage and
Hour Division, and investigations are conducted concurrently with
the FLSA.
Federal Public
Contract Laws
Congress has passed several wage and hour
laws specifically aimed at federal government contractors (and
subcontractors) that provide goods and services to the
U.S.
government. In addition to the FLSA several other wage and
hour laws apply to these contractors depending on
whether the contract is for construction, providing supplies or services
to the U.S. government.
The oldest of these laws for federal
contracts is the
Davis-Bacon Act of 1931
(DBA). The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) requires federal
construction contractors with contracts of more than $2,000 to pay
laborers and mechanics certain prevailing wages and fringe benefits.
The Department of
Labor (DOL) determines the prevailing wage and fringe benefits
which are incorporated directly into the government contract. The DBA
also includes recordkeeping and payroll reporting
requirements. Remedies for violations of DBRA include
withholding of contract money, lawsuit by the contracting agency or
the DOL, and most significantly cancellation of contract and
debarment of the contractor for a certain period from receiving any
federal contract.
The
Walsh-Healey Public Contracts
Act of 1936 (WHPCA) requires federal supply contracts of more
than $10,000 to pay overtime
and prevailing wages. Since the 1960s, the
DOL stopped
issuing new wage determinations under the WHPCA, thus the FLSA minimum wage applies to the federal contracts for manufacturing
or furnishing equipment, supplies, materials or articles.
The
McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act of 1965 (SCA) requires payment of
prevailing wages and fringe benefits in federal service contracts of
more than $2,500. Similar to the DBRA, the remedies for violation of
the SCA
include withholding, lawsuit, cancellation of contract and debarment
of the contractor, including debarment individually of certain
officers of the company.
Just like the FLSA, the
Contract Work Hours and
Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) requires overtime payment to
certain non-exempt employees for all hours worked
in excess of 40 hours per week. In addition to the remedies similar
to the DBA and SCA, the CWHSSA provides for a $10 per person per day
liquidated damages penalty payable to the U.S. Treasury for each
violation of the act. Courts and the Department of Labor
interpret the CWHSSA in the same
manner as the FLSA overtime requirements.
Federal Employee Civil Service
Laws
In 1974 amendments to the FLSA, Congress
extended of the coverage under the act to
civilian employees in military departments and employees of other
executive departments, government corporations, independent
establishments, and units of the legislative or judicial branch that
have positions involving competitive service, the Library of
Congress, the U.S. Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission.
But, in case of civilian government employees, it is the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
and not
DOL that administers the FLSA. DOL
still retains authority over the Library of Congress (by agreement)
and the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Commission and the Tennessee
Valley Authority.
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