The Fair Labor Standards Act is another federal law whose purpose is to work in the best interests of employees. The act addresses many issues that Michigan workers and those across the country could have concerns about. The major points address overtime pay, minimum wage, child labor and provisions for specific types of workers. However, the FLSA does not cover everyone who works.
In order for the FLSA to apply, a worker must be an employee of a business that engages in interstate commerce and has gross sales of $500,000 or more, or an employee of a public agency, such as a hospital, school or long-term care facility. If a person is an independent contractor, meaning that he or she is not directly employed by a company, the FLSA does not provide protections. It is important to know that some workers may be misclassified by their employers because the employers do not want to comply with the law.
Of course, even among employees certain exemptions to the act exist. For example, if an employee earns a yearly salary and is considered an exempt employee, the provisions of the law pertaining to overtime pay may not apply to that employee. Additionally, certain minimum wage regulations may not apply to employees who earn tips. Unfortunately, it can be complicated to know which categories workers fall into.
Nonetheless, if an employee believes that his or her rights have been violated, it is important not to simply brush that thought aside. Even if Michigan workers are not certain whether they have been misclassified or if their employer has violated the FLSA in other ways, they can still work to have their concerns addressed. Experienced employment law attorneys can assess individual cases to determine whether parties may have been victims of employment law violations.