Employers should familiarize themselves with the federal and state requirements for labor standards in general, and the new overtime standards in particular, by visiting the websites of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), (Compliance Assistance information and assistance), and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Review the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) Overtime Laws information. Additional addresses and telephone numbers for direct contact with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry are provided in the Resource Directory section of this Guide. Employers should still assume that they are covered by the federal act unless they are told otherwise by legal counsel.
PERSONS COVERED
Federal Act The federal act covers all workers employed by: 1) hospitals and residential care facilities; 2) public or private preschools, elementary or secondary schools, and institutions of higher education; 3) enterprises with annual gross sales of $500,000, or more, whose workers are engaged in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or otherwise work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce; and 4) public agencies. Other employees will be covered by the federal act if they are individually engaged in interstate commerce, the production of goods for interstate commerce, or in any closely related process or occupation directly essential to such production. Such employees include those who: work in communication and transportation; handle, ship or receive goods moving in interstate commerce; regularly use the mails, telephone, fax, or email for interstate communication or who keep records on interstate transactions; regularly cross state lines in the course of their work; and perform clerical, custodial, maintenance or other work for firms engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for interstate commerce. Due to the broad nature of this category, an employer that wishes to assert that its employees are not involved in interstate commerce should seek the advice of counsel. Exceptions to the federal act are discussed in the section on “Federal Act Exemptions” that follows. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (and other federal employment laws, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act, unemployment insurance, and anti-discrimination laws) apply to working welfare recipients in the same manner as it applies to other workers. The welfare law does not exempt welfare recipients from these laws. Welfare recipients would probably be considered covered employees in many, if not most, of the work activities under the welfare law, and in “workfare” arrangements. Exceptions are most likely to include individuals engaged in activities such as vocational education, job search assistance, and secondary school attendance, because these programs are not ordinarily considered employment under the federal act.
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