Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the law that probably covers your job situation. The FLSA sets the 40-hour workweek, minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards. The FLSA covers all businesses in the United States with employees, except for a very few, very small businesses.
The FLSA states that certain employees are not included in the requirements for work-week, minimum wage and/or overtime laws. These are called “exempt” employees. All other employees are “non-exempt,” and are protected by the hour, wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the FSLA.
The FLSA does not give you the right to vacation, holiday, severance, sick pay, meal or rest periods, holiday time off, vacations, pay raises or fringe benefits. It also does not require employers to give you extra pay for weekend or holiday work. The FLSA also does not give you any rights when it comes to getting fired from your job. However, New York State law does require meal and rest periods.
If your employer is violating wage/hour laws, you may be able to file a lawsuit for unpaid wages. You may also be able to file a claim with the New York State Department of Labor or the US Department of Labor.
Legal Editor: Steven Mitchell Sack, January 2015 (updated February, 2016)
Changes may occur in this area of law. The information provided is brought to you as a public service with the help and assistance of volunteer legal editors, and is intended to help you better understand the law in general. It is not intended to be legal advice regarding your particular problem or to substitute for the advice of a lawyer.
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