Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages at the following rates:
(1) except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than-
(A) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007;
(B) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and
(C) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day;
(2) if such employee is a home worker in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, not less than the minimum piece rate prescribed by regulation or order; or, if no such minimum piece rate is in effect, any piece rate adopted by such employer which shall yield, to the proportion or class of employees prescribed by regulation or order, not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate. Such minimum piece rates or employer piece rates shall be commensurate with, and shall be paid in lieu of, the minimum hourly wage rate applicable under the provisions of this section. The Administrator, or his authorized representative, shall have power to make such regulations or orders as are necessary or appropriate to carry out any of the provisions of this paragraph, including the power without limiting the generality of the foregoing, to define any operation or occupation which is performed by such home work employees in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands; to establish minimum piece rates for any operation or occupation so defined; to prescribe the method and procedure for ascertaining and promulgating minimum piece rates; to prescribe standards for employer piece rates, including the proportion or class of employees who shall receive not less than the minimum hourly wage rate; to define the term "home worker"; and to prescribe the conditions under which employers, agents, contractors, and subcontractors shall cause goods to be produced by home workers;
(3) if such employee is employed as a seaman on an American vessel, not less than the rate which will provide to the employee, for the period covered by the wage payment, wages equal to compensation at the hourly rate prescribed by paragraph (1) of this subsection for all hours during such period when he was actually on duty (including periods aboard ship when the employee was on watch or was, at the direction of a superior officer, performing work or standing by, but not including off-duty periods which are provided pursuant to the employment agreement); or
(4) if such employee is employed in agriculture, not less than the minimum wage rate in effect under paragraph (1) after December 31, 1977.
Every employer shall pay to each of his employees (other than an employee to whom subsection (a)(5) 1 applies) who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, and who in such workweek is brought within the purview of this section by the amendments made to this chapter by the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966, title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 [20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.], or the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974, wages at the following rate: Effective after December 31, 1977, not less than the minimum wage rate in effect under subsection (a)(1).
(1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee.
(2) No labor organization, or its agents, representing employees of an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement, any amounts owing to any employee which have been withheld in violation of this subsection shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation under this chapter.
(4) As used in this subsection, the term "labor organization" means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 213 of this title (except subsections (a)(1) and (f) thereof), every employer providing any contract services (other than linen supply services) under a contract with the United States or any subcontract thereunder shall pay to each of his employees whose rate of pay is not governed by chapter 67 of title 41 or to whom subsection (a)(1) of this section is not applicable, wages at rates not less than the rates provided for in subsection (b) of this section.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 213 of this title (except subsections (a)(1) and (f) thereof) and the provisions of chapter 67 of title 41, every employer in an establishment providing linen supply services to the United States under a contract with the United States or any subcontract thereunder shall pay to each of his employees in such establishment wages at rates not less than those prescribed in subsection (b), except that if more than 50 per centum of the gross annual dollar volume of sales made or business done by such establishment is derived from providing such linen supply services under any such contracts or subcontracts, such employer shall pay to each of his employees in such establishment wages at rates not less than those prescribed in subsection (a)(1) of this section.
Any employee-
(1) who in any workweek is employed in domestic service in a household shall be paid wages at a rate not less than the wage rate in effect under subsection (b) unless such employee's compensation for such service would not because of section 209(a)(6) of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 409(a)(6)] constitute wages for the purposes of title II of such Act [42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.], or
(2) who in any workweek-
(A) is employed in domestic service in one or more households, and
(B) is so employed for more than 8 hours in the aggregate,
shall be paid wages for such employment in such workweek at a rate not less than the wage rate in effect under subsection (b).
(1) In lieu of the rate prescribed by subsection (a)(1), any employer may pay any employee of such employer, during the first 90 consecutive calendar days after such employee is initially employed by such employer, a wage which is not less than $4.25 an hour.
(2) In lieu of the rate prescribed by subsection (a)(1), the Governor of Puerto Rico, subject to the approval of the Financial Oversight and Management Board established pursuant to section 2121 of title 48, may designate a time period not to exceed four years during which employers in Puerto Rico may pay employees who are initially employed after June 30, 2016, a wage which is not less than the wage described in paragraph (1). Notwithstanding the time period designated, such wage shall not continue in effect after such Board terminates in accordance with section 2149 of title 48.
(3) No employer may take any action to displace employees (including partial displacements such as reduction in hours, wages, or employment benefits) for purposes of hiring individuals at the wage authorized in paragraph (1) or (2).
(4) Any employer who violates this subsection shall be considered to have violated section 215(a)(3) of this title.
(5) This subsection shall only apply to an employee who has not attained the age of 20 years, except in the case of the wage applicable in Puerto Rico, 25 years, until such time as the Board described in paragraph (2) terminates in accordance with section 2149 of title 48.
(June 25, 1938, ch. 676, §6,
Subsection (a)(5), referred to in subsec. (b), was redesignated subsec. (a)(4) of this section by
The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966, referred to in subsec. (b), is
The Education Amendments of 1972, referred to in subsec. (b), is
The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974, referred to in subsec. (b), is
The Social Security Act, referred to in subsec. (f)(1), is act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531,
In subsec. (e)(1), "chapter 67 of title 41" substituted for "the Service Contract Act of 1965 (41 U.S.C. 351–357)" on authority of
In subsec. (e)(2), "chapter 67 of title 41" substituted for "the Service Contract Act of 1965" on authority of
2016-Subsec. (g)(2) to (5).
"(2) No employer may take any action to displace employees (including partial displacements such as reduction in hours, wages, or employment benefits) for purposes of hiring individuals at the wage authorized in paragraph (1).
"(3) Any employer who violates this subsection shall be considered to have violated section 215(a)(3) of this title.
"(4) This subsection shall only apply to an employee who has not attained the age of 20 years."
2007-Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(3) to (5).
1996-Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (c).
Subsec. (g).
1989-Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(3).
Subsec. (c).
Subsec. (f)(1).
1977-Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(5).
Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c)(1).
Subsec. (c)(2).
Subsec. (c)(3).
Subsec. (c)(4).
Subsec. (c)(5), (6).
1974-Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(5).
Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c)(2) to (6).
"(2) In the case of any such employee who is covered by such a wage order and to whom the rate or rates prescribed by subsection (a) would otherwise apply, the following rates shall apply:
"(A) The rate or rates applicable under the most recent wage order issued by the Secretary prior to the effective date of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966, increased by 12 per centum, unless such rate or rates are superseded by the rate or rates prescribed in a wage order issued by the Secretary pursuant to the recommendations of a review committee appointed under paragraph (C). Such rate or rates shall become effective sixty days after the effective date of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966 or one year from the effective date of the most recent wage order applicable to such employee therefore issued by the Secretary pursuant to the recommendations of a special industry committee appointed under section 205 of this title, whichever is later.
"(B) Beginning one year after the applicable effective date under paragraph (A), not less than the rate or rates prescribed by paragraph (A), increased by an amount equal to 16 per centum of the rate or rates applicable under the most recent wage order issued by the Secretary prior to the effective date of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966, unless such rate or rates are superseded by the rate or rates prescribed in a wage order issued by the Secretary pursuant to the recommendations of a review committee appointed under paragraph (C).
"(C) Any employer, or group of employers, employing a majority of the employees in an industry in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, may apply to the Secretary in writing for the appointment of a review committee to recommend the minimum rate or rates to be paid such employees in lieu of the rate or rates provided by paragraph (A) or (B). Any such application with respect to any rate or rates provided for under paragraph (A) shall be filed within sixty days following the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966 and any such application with respect to any rate or rates provided for under paragraph (B) shall be filed not more than one hundred and twenty days and not less than sixty days prior to the effective date of the applicable rate or rates under paragraph (B). The Secretary shall promptly consider such application and may appoint a review committee if he has reasonable cause to believe, on the basis of financial and other information contained in the application, that compliance with any applicable rate or rates prescribed by paragraph (A) or (B) will substantially curtail employment in such industry. The Secretary's decision upon any such application shall be final. Any wage order issued pursuant to the recommendations of a review committee appointed under this paragraph shall take effect on the applicable effective date provided in paragraph (A) or (B).
"(D) In the event a wage order has not been issued pursuant to the recommendation of a review committee prior to the applicable effective date under paragraph (A) or (B), the applicable percentage increase provided by any such paragraph shall take effect on the effective date prescribed therein, except with respect to the employees of an employer who filed an application under paragraph (C) and who files with the Secretary an undertaking with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the Secretary for payment to his employees of an amount sufficient to compensate such employees for the difference between the wages they actually receive and the wages to which they are entitled under this subsection. The Secretary shall be empowered to enforce such undertaking and any sums recovered by him shall be held on a special deposit account and shall be paid, on order of the Secretary, directly to the employee or employees affected. Any such sum not paid to an employee because of inability to do so within a period of three years shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.
"(3) In the case of any such employee to whom subsection (a)(5) or subsection (b) would otherwise apply, the Secretary shall within sixty days after the effective date of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966 appoint a special industry committee in accordance with section 205 of this title to recommend the highest minimum wage rate or rates in accordance with the standards prescribed by section 208 of this title, but not in excess of the applicable rate provided by subsection (a)(5) or subsection (b), to be applicable to such employee in lieu of the rate or rates prescribed by subsection (a)(5) or subsection (b), as the case may be. The rate or rates recommended by the special industry committee shall be effective with respect to such employee upon the effective date of the wage order issued pursuant to such recommendation but not before sixty days after the effective date of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966.
"(4) The provisions of sections 205 and 208 of this title, relating to special industry committees, shall be applicable to review committees appointed under this subsection. The appointment of a review committee shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any special industry committee required to be appointed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of section 208 of this title, except that no special industry committee shall hold any hearing within one year after a minimum wage rate or rates for such industry shall have been recommended to the Secretary by a review committee to be paid in lieu of the rate or rates provided for under paragraph (A) or (B). The minimum wage rate or rates prescribed by this subsection shall be in effect only for so long as and insofar as such minimum wage rate or rates have not been superseded by a wage order fixing a higher minimum wage rate or rates (but not in excess of the applicable rate prescribed in subsection (a) or subsection (b)) hereafter issued by the Secretary pursuant to the recommendation of a special industry committee."
Subsec. (f).
1966-Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(4).
Subsec. (a)(5).
Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c).
Subsec. (e).
1963-Subsec. (d).
1961-Subsec. (a).
Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(3).
Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c).
1956-Subsec. (a)(3). Act Aug. 8, 1956, added par. (3).
1955-Subsec. (a)(1). Act Aug. 12, 1955, increased minimum wage from not less than 75 cents an hour to not less than $1 an hour.
1949-Subsec. (a). Act Oct. 26, 1949, §6(a), (b), struck out subpars. (1), (2), (3), and (4), inserted subpar. (1) fixing the minimum wage rate at not less than 75 cents an hour, and redesignated subpar. (5) as (2).
Subsec. (c). Act Oct. 26, 1949, §6(c), continued existing minimum wage rates in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands until superseded by special industry committee wage orders.
1940-Subsec. (a)(5). Act June 26, 1940, added par. (5).
Amendment by
Amendment by sections 2 to 4 and 7(b)(1) of
Amendment by
Amendment by
Act Aug. 12, 1955, ch. 867, §3,
Amendment by act Oct. 26, 1949, effective ninety days after Oct. 26, 1949, see section 16(a) of act Oct. 26, 1949, set out as a note under section 202 of this title.
Functions relating to enforcement and administration of equal pay provisions vested by this section in Secretary of Labor and Administrator of Wage and Hour Division of Department of Labor transferred to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1978, §1, 43 F.R. 19807,
Functions of all other officers of Department of Labor and functions of all agencies and employees of that Department, with exception of functions vested by Administrative Procedure Act (now covered by sections 551 et seq. and 701 et seq. of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees) in hearing examiners employed by Department, transferred to Secretary of Labor, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or performance of any of his functions by any of those officers, agencies, and employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 6 of 1950, §§1, 2, 15 F.R. 3174,
"(a)
"(b)
"(1) the minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) shall be-
"(A) $3.55 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after the date of enactment of this Act [May 25, 2007]; and
"(B) increased by $0.50 an hour (or such lesser amount as may be necessary to equal the minimum wage under section 6(a)(1) of such Act), beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and each year thereafter until the minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under this paragraph is equal to the minimum wage set forth in such section, except that, beginning in 2010 and each year thereafter (except 2011, 2013, and 2015 when there shall be no increase), such increase shall occur on September 30; and
"(2) the minimum wage applicable to American Samoa under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) shall be-
"(A) the applicable wage rate in effect for each industry and classification as of September 29, 2015; and
"(B) increased by $0.40 an hour (or such lesser amount as may be necessary to equal the minimum wage under section 6(a)(1) of such Act), beginning on September 30, 2015, and on September 30 of every third year thereafter, until the minimum wage applicable to American Samoa under this paragraph is equal to the minimum wage set forth in such section."
"(a)
"(b)
"(c)
[
"(a)
"(1)
"(A) while such employee is employed for the period authorized by subsection (g)(1)(B)(i), or
"(B) while such employee is engaged in on-the-job training for the period authorized by subsection (g)(1)(B)(ii).
"(2)
"(A) of not less than $3.35 an hour during the year beginning April 1, 1990; and
"(B) beginning April 1, 1991, of not less than $3.35 an hour or 85 percent of the wage prescribed by section 6 of such Act, whichever is greater.
"(b)
"(1) begins on or after April 1, 1990;
"(2) does not exceed the maximum period during which an employee may be paid such wage as determined under subsection (g)(1)(B); and
"(3) ends before April 1, 1993.
"(c)
"(1) any other individual has been laid off by such employer from the position to be filled by such eligible employee or from any substantially equivalent position; or
"(2) such employer has terminated the employment of any regular employee or otherwise reduced the number of employees with the intention of filling the vacancy so created by hiring an employee to be paid such wage.
"(d)
"(1)
"(2)
"(A)
"(B)
"(e)
"(f)
"(g)
"(1)
"(A)
"(i) is not a migrant agricultural worker or a seasonal agricultural worker (as defined in paragraphs (8) and (10) of section 3 of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1802(8) and (10)) without regard to subparagraph (B) of such paragraphs and is not a nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a));
"(ii) has not attained the age of 20 years; and
"(iii) is eligible to be paid the wage authorized by subsection (a) as determined under subparagraph (B).
"(B)
"(i) An employee shall initially be eligible to be paid the wage authorized by subsection (a) until the employee has been employed a cumulative total of 90 days at such wage.
"(ii) An employee who has been employed by an employer at the wage authorized by subsection (a) for the period authorized by clause (i) may be employed by any other employer for an additional 90 days if the employer meets the requirements of subsection (h).
"(iii) The total period, as authorized by clauses (i) and (ii), that an employee may be paid the wage authorized by subsection (a) may not exceed 180 days.
"(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 'employer' means with respect to an employee an employer who is required to withhold payroll taxes for such employee.
"(C)
"(i)
"(ii)
"(2)
"(h)
"(1) notify the Secretary annually of the positions at which such employees are to be employed at such wage,
"(2) provide on-the-job training to such employees which meets general criteria of the Secretary issued by regulation after consultation with the Committee on Labor and Human Resources [now Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions] of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and other interested persons,
"(3) keep on file a copy of the training program which the employer will provide such employees,
"(4) provide a copy of the training program to the employees,
"(5) post in a conspicuous place in places of employment a notice of the types of jobs for which the employer is providing on-the-job training, and
"(6) send to the Secretary on an annual basis a copy of such notice.
The Secretary shall make available to the public upon request notices provided to the Secretary by employers in accordance with paragraph (6).
"(i)
"(1) an analysis of the impact of such wage on employment opportunities for inexperienced workers;
"(2) any reduction in employment opportunities for experienced workers resulting from the employment of employees under such wage;
"(3) the nature and duration of the training provided under such wage; and
"(4) the degree to which employers used the authority to pay such wage."
Certain public agencies not to be liable for violations of this section occurring before Apr. 15, 1986, with respect to services deemed by that agency to have been performed for it by an individual on a voluntary basis, see section 4(c) of
Amendment by
Pursuant to section 503(c) of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with the United States of America, as set forth in
Secretary authorized to promulgate necessary rules, regulations, or orders on and after the date of the enactment of
"(a) The Congress hereby finds that the existence in industries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce of wage differentials based on sex-
"(1) depresses wages and living standards for employees necessary for their health and efficiency;
"(2) prevents the maximum utilization of the available labor resources;
"(3) tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening, affecting, and obstructing commerce;
"(4) burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and
"(5) constitutes an unfair method of competition.
"(b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act [amending this section, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section], through exercise by Congress of its power to regulate commerce among the several States and with foreign nations, to correct the conditions above referred to in such industries."
The term "Administrator" as meaning the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, see section 204 of this title.
1 See References in Text note below.