FLSA Guidelines - Defining The "Workweek" and Minimum Wage Compliance

Here are some Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidelines regarding what constitutes a "workweek" and minimum wage compliance that all employers should be aware of.

The workweek (i.e. seven consecutive, regular, recurring, 24-hour periods, totaling 168 hours) is the unit of time used for determining minimum wage compliance. The computation and recording of hours worked should be done on a workweek basis, and the employee must be paid, free and clear, compensation equal to at least the minimum wage for each hour worked in the workweek.

A workweek may begin on any day of the week and any hour of the day established by the employer. As long as the average hourly earnings for non-overtime hours in each workweek equal the minimum wage, the requirement is considered satisfied for that week. Average hourly earnings above the minimum in one workweek may not be used to offset earnings below the minimum wage in another workweek.

An employer can change the payday of its employees so long as the change is intended to be permanent, is done for legitimate business purposes, does not evade minimum wage and overtime requirements, and does not cause an unreasonable delay in payment of wages.

Specific to minimum wage compliance, here are four typical wage computations in which the minimum wage payment is the issue:

1. In the case of an employee hired on an hourly rate basis, it is required that the rate at least equal the statutory minimum.
2. In the case of a commission employee where commissions are the sole basis of compensation, the individual's earnings must be at least equal to the minimum wage rate for each of the hours worked, exclusive of overtime.
3. In the case of an employee who is paid an hourly rate for a portion of the workweek and a commission for the balance, earnings at the hourly rate which exceed the minimum may not be applied to make up differences in the commission earnings during the other part of the week.
4. In the case of a piece-rate worker, earnings must equal at least the legal hourly minimum over the course of the workweek.

For more information about the employment workweek, minimum wage compliance, and exempt/non-exempt employees, we suggest you check out the Department of Labor's FLSA webpage.

Comments

[Jennifer B, Careers.org]

A very informative and well written piece. I am going to include this as a resource in our employers section.