Introduction to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

6. E QUAL P AY

Pursuant to the Equal Pay Act, which amends the FLSA, employers must pay employees equally for the same work, regardless of sex/gender. 12

B. W HAT THE FLSA D OES N OT R EQUIRE

Although the FLSA does not provide for the following, employers may still be required to comply with them through local laws or contract/labor agreement provisions.

1. S TATE W AGE AND H OUR L AW In California, there are seventeen overtime wage orders and one minimum wage order that govern wage and hour law for employers in the state. 13 Additional wage and hour laws are set forth in the California Labor Code. California public agencies must comply with the state minimum wage. 14 The state minimum wage for employers with twenty-six or more employees is $13.00 per hour until January 1, 2021, when it increases to $14.00 per hour. 15 For employers with twenty-five or fewer employees, the state minimum wages is $12.00 per hour until January 1, 2021, when it increases to $13.00 per hour. 16 Other than the state minimum wage, much of California’s wage and hour laws do not apply to local government entities. 17 However, this area of the law is unsettled and evolving. 18 2. O VERTIME FOR H OURS W ORKED O VER E IGHT IN A D AY With certain limited exceptions, the FLSA does not require overtime to be paid for hours worked over eight in a day. Rather, FLSA overtime is required only when the work actually performed exceeds a certain number of hours in a work period (usually forty hours in a seven day workweek). 3. M EAL AND B REAK P ERIODS The Act does not impose any requirements to provide meal or break periods. However, the Act does require that meal time be counted as “hours worked” for purposes of computing FLSA overtime if an employer places significant restrictions on an employee’s meal period. In addition, rest break times of twenty-minutes or less are generally considered work time. 19 4. S TANDBY OR O N -C ALL P AY The Act does not require employers to pay “extra” compensation for standby or on-call pay. When the employer overly restricts employee activities during standby or on-call time, however, the time may be considered hours worked and then must be paid at or above the minimum wage or hourly rate.

Introduction to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ©2020 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 9