Labor Wage and Hour - Fair Labor Standards Act - Essay Example

Human resource departments must therefore be flexible enough in order to accommodate the changes occasioned by the amendments to these pieces of legislation.

The provisions of this Act that are of interest to the Human Resource departments include the basic minimum wage, subminimum wage rates, exemptions from overtime and the minimum wage of persons who provide companionship services, the exemption for employees in computer-related occupations, compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay, and break time for nursing mothers. With regard to child protection, the Act explicitly prohibits the employment of children under the age of eighteen years in what it terms as dangerous jobs whether the job is agricultural or nonagricultural. In agricultural operations, the Act outlaws employment of children below the age of sixteen years during school hours when such children are supposed to be at school. The letter and spirit of this Act are to ensure that the employees get compensation for all hours they have provided labor including all time they are on duty or are at a prescribed place of work, work performed at home, travel time, waiting time, training, and probationary periods.

Some of the major provisions of this law include section 206, which touches on minimum wage payable to employees. Pursuant to section 206 (a), employees engaged in commerce, homework in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as well as those in American Samoa, seamen on American vessels, and lastly agricultural employees are supposed to be paid $ 7.25 an hour. The Act obliges every employer to pay each of the employees 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 of not less than for instance, $5.85 an hour beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007.  

In light of section 206, the Act prohibits discrimination based on sex. Section 206 (a) (4) (d) deters any employer from discriminating based on sex. The Act demands equal pay to

 Workers, who perform equal work, employ equal skill, effort, and responsibility and work under similar conditions. However, the Act exempts wages on basis of seniority, merit, quantity, or quality of production. Section 206 (a) ( 2) prohibits a 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.

Section 206(g) is concerned about the welfare of new employees who are below the age of twenty. The Act provides that such workers during the first ninety consecutive calendar days be entitled to a wage of not less than $4.25 an hour. However, subsection 2 protects the other employees from the displacement of any kind in order to give room for such new employees.

 For instance, the act requires to pay covered nonexempt employees at least the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which was raised from $5.25. These directions came into place in 2007. Many states have complied with this requirement with most paying their workers at a rate higher than that set by the federal minimum wage.

With regard to tipped workers, the employer can pay them a wage lower than the basic minimum wage. However, the tip they get in addition to the wage paid must correspond with the minimum basic wage of $7.25 per hour. The Act also prescribes special minimum wages payable to workers with disabilities with the aim of providing persons with disabilities an opportunity to work. This requires the Human resource departments to publish new policies to accommodate such groups.

With regard to overtime, the Act provides that the employer should pay at least time-and-a-half to covered nonexempt employees who work more than forty hours in a week at a given job. The Act also allows the covered workers and local government workers to receive compensatory time off for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Comp time is time off with pay in lieu of overtime. Human resource managers in such organizations change their policies and practices in order to conform to this requirement.

The weight of this action falls on the human resource department of various organizations since this is the department entrusted with the welfare of the workers both in private and public organizations. Its provisions demand conformity with regard to minimum basic wages, overtime, and child labor protections. This department must therefore ensure that the policies, practices, as well as decisions, are in conformity with this Act.