The Fair Labor Standards Act Essay Example

Introduction

Also referred to as the "Wage and Hour Bill," the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal piece of legislation enacted by the US Congress in 1938, a time when workers were working under cruel work environments and getting meager pay. It was part of the New Deal measures to address the effects of the Great Depression. The law governs and regulates the employee working hours and wages both in the public and private sector. The original idea behind the passage of the Act was the need to protect workers from inhumane, abusive, and oppressive working conditions during the Great Depression and Industrial Revolution, particularly the immigrant workers (Harris, 2000). The FLSA established a living wage, created laws to prohibit and criminalize child labor, set the minimum wage and age, and mandated the payment of overtime.

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Purposes of the FLSA

The FLSA has four main purposes. The first objective of this Act is the setting of a minimum wage. The FLSA sets a minimum wage below which workers' pay cannot fall. This wage standard applies to all local, State, and federal government and private sector employees. According to the Act, nonexempt workers are to be paid a minimum wage of at least $7.25 per hour. The other purpose of the FLSA is to ensure that employees are paid overtime for extra hours work done for their employers beyond the normal working hours. For nonexempt employees, the FLSA provides that they shall be entitled to overtime pay of at least one-half their regular pay rates for hours worked over forty in a workweek. The overtime pay ensures that employers do not oppress their workers by requiring them to work for more hours a week and not paying them for the extra hours. Moreover, the FLSA also has a primary purpose of encouraging full employment (Harris, 2000). To do this, the Act establishes a maximum number of hours that employees are required to work. This way, employers cannot avoid paying workers overtime by employing people on an hourly basis. Further, the purpose of the FLSA is safeguarding child workers.

FLSA's Benefits to Employers and Employees

The FLSA benefits both employees and employers in equal measure. One of the benefits of FLSA to employers is that it provides clear rules and regulations regarding employee treatment and pay which helps limit the risk of costly litigation as a result of legal confusion and non-compliance (Kersey, 2004). According to Kersey (2004), the new regulations regarding white-collar overtime under the FLSA are beneficial to employers in that it enables them to comply with employment laws regarding fair pay and makes enforcement of fair labor standards easy, hence ensuring that employers are not sued for failure to comply with the Act. The FLSA also benefits employers by enabling them to fulfill their recordkeeping responsibilities. With these records about employees, overtime, and other entitlements, employers are able to track their expenditures on salaries and have relevant information regarding their expenditures on employee incomes.

On the other hand, the FLSA benefits employees in that it guarantees them the right to reasonable and fair pay which is commensurate with the number of hours they work and the kind or nature of work they do. The Act regulates the minimum wage that employers are permitted to pay employees, something that ensures workers a guaranteed payment at the end of their work and shields them from unreasonable wages. Moreover, the FLSA's benefit to employees is that it ensures that workers only work for a reasonable amount of hours and are not overworked (Scott, 2018). The overtime provisions of the Act are necessary for cushioning workers against exploitation and oppression through long working hours and low or no pay for the extra hours worked (Scott, 2018). It also guarantees equal pay for equal work, the right to a minimum wage, and employer compliance with other labor or employment laws that affect employee rights.

Strengthening the FLSA

Despite its advantages to employers and employees, the FLSA has some loopholes in terms of its concepts or elements that still need to be strengthened. One of the concepts of this Act which I would strengthen by adding onto it is the concept of overtime. I would propose an increase in the rate from $40 to $50 depending on the nature of the work and the risks involved. Since some types of work involve more health risks to employees, the amount of overtime should be raised. The distinction between exempt and nonexempt should also be revisited to make it more beneficial to workers and cover the low-level employees. Furthermore, I would strengthen the FLSA rules regarding minimum pay by increasing the minimum pay to $10 so as to cushion middle-income workers against the effects of inflation and unpredictable markets. According to Kersey (2004), increasing the minimum pay will also benefit low-income earners by enabling them to afford essentials such as food and housing since some find the minimum pay to be too low to adequately cater for their needs.

Obligations Imposed on Employers

The FLSA imposes various obligations on employers. One of these duties is to pay employees salaries that are not less than the minimum wage of the federal rate of $7.25 an hour. The other obligation placed on employers is to pay their employees overtime at the rate of 1 1/2 times their regular pay for any hours worked over 40 in a week. Employers are also required to keep records of their employees and their pay and to comply with other federal employment laws that regulate pay. Moreover, the FLSA imposes on employers the duty to treat employees fairly and not to employ workers below the age of 16. They are also required to provide information to their employees through posters regarding their rights under the FLSA. States can provide additional protections to workers under this Act by, for instance, increasing the amount of overtime or minimum wage.

Conclusion

To summarize, the FLSA provides necessary protection for employees against exploitation, oppression, and unfair treatment by employers through poor pay and working conditions or hours while at the same time benefiting employers by enabling them to comply with other employment laws. The law shields employees against unreasonably low pay and unreasonable work hours and imposes on employers the obligations to pay overtime and minimum wage to employees. However, it could still be strengthened by increasing the minimum wage and overtime.

References

Harris, S.D. (2000). Conceptions of fairness and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Hofstra Laborand Employment Law Journal, 18(1), 19-98

Kersey, P. (2004). Modernizing overtime regulations to benefit employers and employees. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/modernizing-overtime-regulations-benefit-employers-and-employees

Scott, S. (2018). What are the benefits of the Fair Labor Standards Act? Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-fair-labor-standards-act-2957.html