Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Posting Requirements

The FLSA requires employers to pay certain employees overtime pay of time and a half if they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. For example, an employee who earns $10.00 an hour and works 45 hours a week is entitled to overtime pay of $75.00 on top of the employee’s regular wages.

The law does not limit the number of overtime hours that employees 16 and over can work, but it does specify that hours worked on weekends and holidays don’t count toward overtime unless the employee has already hit the 40-hour threshold.

The law defines hours worked as any hours that an employee is on duty at the workplace. The definition covers time spent “on-call” on the employer’s premises and rest breaks (usually of 20 minutes or less); meal breaks (typically lasting 30 minutes or more) need not be paid. Travel time may be counted as hours worked if it is not time spent on an ordinary home-to-work commute. Certain other restrictions apply.

The FLSA requires employers to give nursing mothers reasonable breaks whenever they need to express breast milk for one year after their child is born. Employers must also set aside a private place—other than a bathroom—for new mothers to express milk.

Employees who are age 18 and older may perform any job. Minors who are age 16 or 17 may perform any non-hazardous job without any hour restrictions.

Minors who are 14 or 15 years old may work outside of school hours in certain industries except manufacturing, mining, and other hazardous industries. They should work no more than 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, or 8 hours on a non-school day. Employers should be aware that there are other hourly restrictions that apply to minors.

The FLSA requires employers to keep specific wage and hour records for employees, including the following:

• Basic personal information, including their name and address, among other things
• The hour and day when the workweek starts
• The total hours they work on each workday and during each workweek
• Their total daily or weekly earnings
• Their regular hourly pay rate
• Their total overtime pay for the workweek
• Any additions to or deductions from their wages
• The total wages paid each pay period
• The date of payment

These records must be kept for at least three years. Employers of exempt employees and in certain industries may be required to keep additional records.