Wage and Hour Law
Federal Law: Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides a private cause of action for lost wages for most workers in the United States. It provides a minimum wage for employees and sets a standard for overtime pay. It is located in 29 U.S.C. §§ 201, et seq. A pdf of the entire statue is provided by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and may be found here: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/FairLaborStandAct.pdf.
The FLSA, combined with the DOL regulations enforcing it, and the case law interpreting it, is much too complicated to discuss is a single brief section. However, frequent blog posts on this site will deal with many aspects of this statute, particularly those which often result in litigation or seem particularly confusing.
As an introduction to the statute, it is helpful to remember the purpose of the FLSA, as described in section 202(a). The statute states, in pertinent part, that “Congress finds . . . in industries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods . . . labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well-being of workers. It continues state that these sub-minimum standards “lead[ ] to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce[.]” 29 U.S.C. § 202(a)(4).
The FLSA is a humanitarian statute that helps workers earn a living wage. It contributes to the economic strength of the contrary by eliminating labor disputes that arise when employers depress wages to the point where individuals cannot achieve “a minimum standard of living” according to its terms. It is up to employers to make sure their employment practices meet legal standards. If employers do violate the law, employees are entitled to vindicate their rights in court and make sure their employers do not continue to break the law in the future.
Ohio Wage and Hour Laws
Ohio’s wage and hour laws are found in Article II, section 34A of its Constitution, and in Ohio Revised Code (O.R.C.) Chapter 4111, et seq. A link to the complete chapter is provided here: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4111. Section 4113.5 is also significant because it requires timely payment of wages: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4113.15.
It is interesting that Ohio law is written to closely mirror the FLSA in many instances. For example, the overtime provisions in §4111.03(a) incorporate the FLSA verbatim. However, Ohio does provide a higher minimum wage than federal law requires. Also, the Ohio legislature is currently (as of April 2011) working on a bill to restrict employee rights under the above-stated statutes. This site will reflect any changes that are ultimately passed into law.