The Fair Labor Standards Act

Protection for Workers

By Sulamita Miguel

Before the FLSA… Many people worked in what were

called sweatshops. These people worked for long hours

and with very little pay. They were not government

regulated and so the workers had no benefits, no rights, and were at the mercy of their employer

Working Conditions Workers lacked access to the kind of

knowledge and resources that would enable them to overcome the impossible working conditions.

Characteristics of Sweatshops

Characteristics of sweatshops included overcrowding, lack of sanitary conditions, no worker breaks or relief,

demands to complete a task within a limited period of

time, and-as important to the continuance of the

sweatshop-the total lack of job security.

Child Labor

Children were forced to work in

hazardous conditions. Many

of them lost a finger or were

badly hurt. They were forced

to work long hours at a lower wage

than adults.

Passing the Fair Labor Standards Act

O Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 provided more protection for the workers.

O It was passed in 1938, during franklin D. Roosevelt's precedential term. (Appleby, 2005)

What Did the FLSA Improve?

O The Fair Labor Standards Act:O provides minimum standards for both wages and overtime

entitlementO specifies administrative procedures by which covered work

time must be compensatedO includes provisions related to child labor, equal pay, and travel

time issuesO exempts specified employees or groups of employees from the

application of certain of its provisionsO requires employers to pay workers a minimum wage and

overtime when the employee works more than 40 hours in a week

O provides exceptions to this rule for professional, executive and administrative employees (employees found to be exempt under these provisions are not required to be paid additional wages for overtime)

ReferencesO Fair Labor Standard Act. (2012, June 29). Retrieved from Kansas

Department of Administration: http://www.da.ks.gov/ps/subject/flsa.htm

O SWEATSHOPS. (2013). Retrieved from Reference for Business, Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed.: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Str-Ti/Sweatshops.html

O Appleby, J. B. (2005). Fair Labor Standards Act. Woodland Hills: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.