United States - Working time - 2012

July 2012

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 USC Section 201 et seq.; 29 CFR 510 - 794), as amended and reissued May 2011. Published by the Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/FairLaborStandAct.pdf.

Employment Law Guide: Laws, Regulations, and Technical Assistance Services. Prepared by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy and published by the Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov/elaws/elg/

In determining for the purposes of sections 206 and 207 of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the hours for which an employee is employed, there shall be excluded any time spent in changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of each workday which was excluded from measured working time during the week involved by the express terms of or by custom or practice under a bona fide collective-bargaining agreement applicable to the particular employee.

Employee means any individual employed by an employer. The definition also expands upon who is defined as employed by a public agency; states that individuals employed by an employer engaged in agriculture who are the parent, spouse, child or other member of the employer’s immediate family are excluded; and specifies the conditions in which volunteers performing services for a public agency may be excluded.

Includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and includes a public agency, but does not include any labour organization (other than when acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labour organization.

Overtime is work performed in excess of the 40 hour limit on weekly working hours.

No federal statutory limit on daily working hours identified.

No employer shall employ any of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, for a workweek longer than 40 hours.

An agreement, made as a result of collective bargaining by representatives of employees certified as bona fide by the National Labor Relations Board may permit the following working hour arrangements:
(i) no more than 1,040 hours during any period of 26 consecutive weeks;
(ii) no more than 2,080 hours at ordinary rates, and no more than 2,240 hours in total, during any period of 52 consecutive weeks.

The maximum normal working hours are 56 hours per week for employees who:
(1) are engaged by an independently owned and controlled local enterprise (including an enterprise with more than one bulk storage establishment) engaged in the wholesale or bulk distribution of petroleum products if: (A) the annual gross volume of sales of such enterprise is less than $1,000,000 exclusive of excise taxes, (B) more than 75 per centum of such enterprise’s annual dollar volume of sales is made within the State in which such enterprise is located, and (C) not more than 25 per centum of the annual dollar volume of sales of such enterprise is to customers who are engaged in the bulk distribution of such products for resale; and
(2) are paid more than 1.5 times the minimum wage rates set by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Also, the general limit on weekly working hours does not apply where employee is employed pursuant to a bona fide individual contract, or pursuant to an agreement made as a result of collective bargaining by representatives of employees, if the duties of such employee necessitate irregular hours of work, and the contract or agreement:
(1) specifies a regular rate of pay of not less than the minimum hourly rate set by the Fair Labor Standards Act and compensation at not less than one and one-half times such rate for all hours worked in excess of such maximum workweek, and
(2) provides a weekly guaranty of pay for not more than sixty hours based on the rates so specified.

Exceptions also apply to employees employed at piece rates or in a retail or service establishment, in a hospital or establishment engaged in care of sick, aged, or mentally ill, or in fire protection or law enforcement activities, subject to certain conditions (including the employee’s regular rate of pay).

Further, the maximum weekly hour limit does not apply to any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity (including any employee employed in the capacity of academic administrative personnel or teacher in elementary or secondary schools), or in the capacity of outside salesman.

Further exceptions are provided in s213 of the Fair Labor Standards Act, covering certain agricultural workers, newsreaders, salesmen, transport workers (among others).

Specific employees in agriculture are not covered by the provisions of the Fair Labour Standard Act.

Employees employed in domestic service in a household and who reside in such household and employees employed on a casual basis in domestic service employment to provide babysitting services or any employee employed in domestic service employment to provide companionship services for individuals who (because of age or infirmity) are not covered by the weekly hours limit.
Other domestic employees are covered by the 40 hours limit.

No provisions establishing criteria for overtime work identified.

No relevant provisions identified.

No general limit on overtime identified.

50% increase

Employer may be exempt from paying overtime compensation for overtime employment if such periods the employee is receiving remedial education such as (1) provided to employees lacking a high school diploma or education attainment at the eighth grade level (2) designed to provide reading and other basic skills at an eight grade level or below and (3) does not include job training.

Not less than one and one-half hours for each hour worked.

No relevant provisions identified.

No relevant provisions identified.

No employer shall employ any employee in domestic service in one or more households for a workweek longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for such excess hours at a rate not less than one
and one-half times the regular rate at which he or she is employed.

Specific employees in agriculture are not covered by the provisions of the Fair Labour Standard Act.

No relevant provisions identified.

(No general statutory provisions on rest breaks.)

(No general statutory provisions on daily rest.)

(No general statutory provisions on weekly rest.)

No federal statutory provisions establishing an entitlement to annual leave identified.

No federal statutory provisions establishing an entitlement to public holidays identified.

No federal statutory provisions establishing a right to emergency family leave identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating part time work identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating night work identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating shift work identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating on-call work identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating flexitime identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating casual work identified.

No federal statutory provisions regulating short-time work or work sharing identified.

No federal statutory provisions establishing a right to request changes to working hours identified.

No federal statutory provisions establishing working hour information requirements identified.

No federal statutory provisions establishing consultation requirements identified.