The state and federal governments have tightened their reins on wage rates. As a result, many companies do not comply with the minimum wage and overtime laws. Here is an overview of your rights under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA").

One Simple Rule

The Fair Labor Standards Act follows one simple rule that every employee and employer can understand. It says that employees who are covered by the FLSA must receive at least the minimum wage and may not be employed for more than 40 hours in a week without receiving at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for the overtime hours.

When You Are Entitled To Minimum Wage — And When You're Not

To learn whether your employer pays you according to the law, you must understand three things:

• which employees are covered by the FLSA (the law does not cover all employees)
• federal laws that relate to minimum wage (FLSA)
• state laws that relate to minimum wage, in the state where you work.

The FLSA requires every employer to pay each employee engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce wages, using these guidelines:

• $5.15 per hour beginning September 1, 1997.
• Employees under 20 years of age may be paid $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer.
• Certain full-time students, apprentices, and workers with disabilities may be paid less than the minimum wage under special certificates issued by the Department of Labor.
• "Tipped employees" must receive a cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

Get Paid For All the Hours You Work (Cont'd)