Workweek standard.

  1. Law
  2. CFR 29
  3. Labor
  4. Regulations Relating to Labor
  5. Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor
  6. Statements of General Policy or Interpretation Not Directly Related to Regulations
  7. Interpretative Bulletin on the General Coverage of the Wage and Hours Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
  8. General
  9. How Coverage Is Determined
  10. Workweek standard.

Checkout our iOS App for a better way to browser and research.

§ 776.4 Workweek standard.

(a) The workweek is to be taken as the standard in determining the applicability of the Act.[13] Thus, if in any workweek an employee is engaged in both covered and noncovered work he is entitled to both the wage and hours benefits of the Act for all the time worked in that week, unless exempted therefrom by some specific provision of the Act. The proportion of his time spent by the employee in each type of work is not material. If he spends any part of the workweek in covered work he will be considered on exactly the same basis as if he had engaged exclusively in such work for the entire period. Accordingly, the total number of hours which he works during the workweek at both types of work must be compensated for in accordance with the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions of the Act.

(b) It is thus recognized that an employee may be subject to the Act in one workweek and not in the next. It is likewise true that some employees of an employer may be subject to the Act and others not. But the burden of effecting segregation between covered and noncovered work as between particular workweeks for a given employee or as between different groups of employees is upon the employer. Where covered work is being regularly or recurrently performed by his employees, and the employer seeks to segregate such work and thereby relieve himself of his obligations under sections 6 and 7 with respect to particular employees in particular workweeks, he should be prepared to show, and to demonstrate from his records, that such employees in those workweeks did not engage in any activities in interstate or foreign commerce or in the production of goods for such commerce, which would necessarily include a showing that such employees did not handle or work on goods or materials shipped in commerce or used in production of goods for commerce, or engage in any other work closely related and directly essential to production of goods for commerce.[14] The Division's experience has indicated that much so-called “segregation” does not satisfy these tests and that many so-called “segregated” employees are in fact engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.

Footnotes - 776.4

[13] See Gordon's Transports v. Walling, 162 F. 2d 203 (C.A. 6), certiorari denied 332 U.S. 774; Walling v. Fox-Pelletier Detective Agency, 4 W.H. Cases 452 (W.D. Tenn.), 8 Labor Cases 62,219; Walling v. Black Diamond Coal Mining Co., 59 F. Supp. 348 (W.D. Ky.); Fleming v. Knox, 42 F. Supp. 948 (S.D. Ga.); Roberg v. Henry Phipps Estate, 156 F. 2d 958 (C.A. 2). For a definition of the workweek, see § 778.2(c) of this chapter.

[14] See Guess v. Montague, 140 F. 2d 500 (C.A. 4).


Download our app to see the most-to-date content.