General information, not an assessment of any person's case.
Reading scope: Federal — United States
Sources read 2026-10-25. A retrieval date is not a certification that the law remains unchanged.
Fair Labor Standards Act: coverage and pay floor
Fair Labor Standards Act: coverage and pay floor
The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, sets federal minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and youth-employment standards. It covers many private-sector workers and workers at federal, state, and local government employers. Read the U.S. Department of Labor’s FLSA overview.
Coverage is not decided only by an employer’s size. The U.S. Department of Labor describes both enterprise coverage and individual coverage. Enterprise coverage can include a business with at least two employees and at least $500,000 in annual sales or business, as well as listed hospitals, residential medical or nursing-care businesses, schools and preschools, and government agencies. Individual coverage can apply when work regularly involves interstate commerce. The actual employer and job facts matter. Read DOL Fact Sheet #14 on FLSA coverage.
The Department currently lists $7.25 per hour as the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt workers, effective July 24, 2009. State or local minimum-wage laws may be higher. The Department says employers must comply with both federal and applicable state rules; this page does not determine which rate applies to a person or workplace. Check the Department’s federal minimum-wage page.
Nonexempt — in plain language. Here, nonexempt means not excluded from the federal overtime requirement by an applicable exemption. A salary or job title alone does not decide that question. Federal overtime only. This explanation does not decide coverage or an exemption. Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act → Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer & Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) →
Hours, work time, and overtime
Hours, work time, and overtime
Unless an exemption applies, covered employees must receive overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at no less than one and one-half times the regular rate. A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring 168-hour period. It can begin on a day other than Sunday and does not have to match the calendar week. The Department says hours cannot be averaged across two or more workweeks. Read DOL Fact Sheet #23 on overtime pay.
Regular rate — in plain language. The regular rate is the hourly pay figure used to calculate federal overtime, even when pay is based on a salary, commissions or piecework. Statutory exclusions and other regulations can affect the calculation. Federal overtime only. This page does not calculate a worker’s regular rate. 29 CFR 778.109 — The regular rate is an hourly rate →
Weekend, holiday, or regular-rest-day work is not automatically federal overtime solely because of the day. The total hours in the workweek and other rules still matter. Pay can also be based on salary, piece rate, commission, or another method, so the facts may matter to the regular-rate question. Read the Department’s regular-rate explanation.
For federal hours-worked rules, the Department explains that work an employer suffers or permits may be work time even if it was not requested. Whether a particular task counts depends on the facts. Read DOL Fact Sheet #22 on hours worked.
Illustration only: A worker who eats at a desk but regularly answers employer calls may not be completely relieved from duty. The Department uses a similar example in its hours-worked guidance. This illustration does not decide any particular meal-period question.
Exempt and nonexempt status
Exempt and nonexempt status
Some FLSA exemptions can affect the federal minimum-wage and overtime protections. The Department’s guidance describes exemptions for certain executive, administrative, professional, computer, and outside-sales employees. A job title alone does not decide exempt status. The Department says the applicable requirements include specific job duties and, for some exemptions, a salary basis and salary level. Read DOL Fact Sheet #17A on selected exemptions.
The Department separately posts current earnings-threshold information, including exceptions for some types of employees. This draft does not apply an exemption, determine a worker’s duties, or calculate pay. Check the Department’s earnings-threshold page.
Records and the Wage and Hour Division complaint process
Records and the Wage and Hour Division complaint process
The FLSA requires covered employers to keep accurate time and pay records for nonexempt workers. The Department lists daily hours, total workweek hours, basis of pay, regular rate, straight-time earnings, overtime earnings, additions or deductions, total pay, payment date, and the pay period among the basic records. Read DOL Fact Sheet #21 on recordkeeping.
For a possible Wage and Hour Division complaint, the Department says useful information can include employer contact information, the type of work, how and when the worker was paid, personal records of hours, and copies of pay stubs. Keep only records you can lawfully access. Do not remove employer confidential material. This site does not accept uploads. See the Department’s complaint-information list.
The Department says many Wage and Hour Division investigations begin with confidential complaints. Its complaint page lists 1-866-487-9243 and explains that the agency will gather information and consider whether an investigation is appropriate. Read the Department’s complaint-process page.
Agency complaint, private action, and timing
Agency complaint, private action, and timing
A Wage and Hour Division complaint is an agency process. The FLSA also provides for a private action in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction in circumstances described by the statute. These are different routes. The law contains rules that can affect a private action when the Secretary of Labor files an action, so do not assume that filing a complaint answers every court-process question. Read 29 U.S.C. § 216 in the 2024 U.S. Code edition.
The 2024 U.S. Code text of 29 U.S.C. § 255 says an action for unpaid federal minimum wages or overtime compensation generally must be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, with a three-year period for a cause of action arising from a willful violation. This page does not determine accrual, willfulness, whether a deadline is tolled or changed, or whether a Wage and Hour Division complaint affects any deadline. Ask a qualified lawyer about time limits promptly. Read 29 U.S.C. § 255 in the 2024 U.S. Code edition.
Sources and dates
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No page-wide update date or version appeared in the retrieved extracted text; the page says the $7.25 rate is effective July 24, 2009.
Source limits: Agency web guidance rather than statutory text; the retrieved text showed no page-wide revision date.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Revised July 2009.
Source limits: The fact sheet says it is general information, does not have the force and effect of law, and is revised July 2009. It does not decide coverage for an individual job.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Revised October 2019.
Source limits: The fact sheet says it is general information and is revised October 2019; it does not calculate an individual regular rate or decide an exemption.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Revised July 2008.
Source limits: The fact sheet says it is general information and is revised July 2008. It does not decide compensability of a particular activity.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No page-wide update date or version appeared in the retrieved extracted text.
Source limits: The page provides thresholds but does not determine an employee’s duties, exemption, or coverage. No page-wide revision date was displayed.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Revised July 2008.
Source limits: The fact sheet says it summarizes 29 CFR Part 516, is general information, and is revised July 2008.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No page-wide update date or version appeared in the retrieved extracted text.
Source limits: Agency process information only; no individualized enforcement, deadline, or outcome information is provided. No page-wide revision date was displayed.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No page-wide update date or version appeared in the retrieved extracted text.
Source limits: This page lists information the agency finds useful; it does not require visitors to provide any particular record or establish a claim. No page-wide revision date was displayed.
Publisher and place: U.S. Government Publishing Office · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: United States Code, 2024 Edition.
Source limits: Accessible official text is a 2024 edition. The current OLRC section page could not be extracted during this task, so this source does not independently confirm statutory status after the 2024 edition.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Revised September 2019.
Source limits: The fact sheet says it is general information and is revised September 2019. It does not decide an individual exemption and must be checked against current regulations before approval.
Publisher and place: U.S. Government Publishing Office · Federal — United States.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: United States Code, 2024 Edition.
Source limits: The fetch response was a relevant-section extraction, not original HTML bytes, and the source is the 2024 edition. It does not decide whether a private action is available or how it interacts with an agency matter in a particular case.
Publisher and place: U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo); U.S. Code prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel · Federal.
Read: 2026-10-26.
Displayed date or version: 2024 U.S. Code edition, Title 29, section 255; official GovInfo link resolved to the 2024 section PDF on October 26, 2026. This edition is not a certification of later legal changes.
Source limits: For mixed federal/state or court/agency claims, this result supports only the federal section-255 component, not the separate state or agency proposition. For the retaliation hold, it supports the statement that section 255's stated subject is the listed wage, overtime, and liquidated-damages actions; it does not determine whether another limitations rule applies. The displayed-date limit does not establish absence of later changes. Research support only, not attorney approval.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: No page-level displayed date or version identified in the retrieved text.
Source limits: The page gives a general federal overview and does not itself resolve coverage or every exemption. No page-level publication date or version was identified in the retrieved text. The saved file is stateless-fetch extracted text, not original HTML bytes, because a direct raw-page retrieval from the official site returned HTTP 403.
Publisher and place: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · Federal.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Revised September 2019
Source limits: The page identifies itself as general information, states that it does not have the force and effect of law, and is revised September 2019. It does not decide a particular worker’s exemption. The saved file is stateless-fetch extracted text, not original HTML bytes, because a direct raw-page retrieval from the official site returned HTTP 403.
Publisher and place: eCFR, Office of the Federal Register / National Archives and Records Administration · Federal.
Read: 2026-10-25.
Displayed date or version: Title 29 displayed up to date as of 10/22/2026; Title 29 last amended 10/14/2026.
Source limits: The retrieved eCFR page describes eCFR as authoritative but unofficial and distinguishes it from the annually published official CFR.
Read the scope and exceptions beside each explanation. These links do not replace review of personal facts or qualified legal advice.