Assignment: The Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is one of the complex laws governing employment relationships. The FLSA determines how employees are paid, whether they are eligible for overtime pay, at what age an individual can work and in which environments, and how these issues should be documented. Aside from the laws relating to discrimination, the FLSA is one of the most frequently violated employment acts. The biggest challenge with the FLSA is that many definitions are vague and with no clearly set precedents. Whenever a law is open to this much interpretation, the employer is likely to encounter significant challenges.

Tasks:

Using the Internet, research an instance when the FLSA was violated by either the misclassification of employees as exempt when they should have been nonexempt or the incorrect calculation and payment of overtime. Write a 3-5-page paper analyzing the situation. Include the following in your analysis:

• Describe the circumstances surrounding the issue, including the job titles and primary duties in question.
• Analyze how the issue occurred. Compare the facts to the law. Was a mistake made? Is there evidence of an intentional violation?
• What was the outcome of the case?
• How can employers avoid making the same mistake in the future?

Use reference to the FLSA as well as other scholarly resources to support your analysis. Include all citations in the APA format.