Labor standards are an mixture of
federal labor laws and state laws and
regulations. maze of state and federal laws and
regulations. Although, the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) sets the minimum wage and overtime
standards, it does not prevent states from setting their own higher
standards. States can even enact their own laws which apply to
workers that are not covered by the FLSA. If there is more
than one standard (e.g., the FLSA, state law, or local ordinance),
the standard most favorable to the employee is applicable.
Just like the FLSA, most state laws have
exempted certain categories of employees from the minimum wage and
overtime requirements. Similar to the FLSA, state laws often exempt
executive, administrative and professional employees, students,
handicapped workers and outside salespersons from overtime
requirements. Generally, states have fewer exemptions than
those allowed under the FLSA. More importantly however, even where
the same exemptions exist, the state laws may define the exemption
differently than the FLSA.
Many states follow the
federal statutes such at the
Fair Labor Standards Act
and other
federal labor laws and do have have their own labor laws.
However, a number of states have their own labor laws such as a
higher than federal minimum wage, requirements as to when overtime
must be paid and for how much, if paid or unpaid break and lunch
periods must be provided, on what grounds an employer may terminate
an employee in that state. Each state varies greatly on what
requirements exist. Following links provide information on the
various state labor and wage & hour laws:
