Also known as: Fair Labor Standards Act
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A federal statute enacted in 1938 that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor standards for covered employees.
Francesca Fiore and other probation officers sued the State of Maine in state court for unpaid overtime under the FLSA. The state had not consented to the suit. The court dismissed the action because sovereign immunity barred the private damages claim on a federal statute enacted under Article I.
Farid Farahani worked at a state prison industries factory that sold license plates to private trucking companies. Federal regulators applied FLSA overtime requirements to his shifts. The factory challenged the rules but the court upheld them under Congress's Commerce Clause authority over both public and private employers.
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State employees sued their public employer for unpaid FLSA overtime. The state raised sovereign immunity. The court dismissed the damages action because Article I legislation cannot abrogate state immunity in state court.
A municipal worker sought FLSA overtime from a state agency. The agency argued limits on federal power. The court upheld Congress's authority to apply the FLSA to states via the Commerce Clause.
A private employer refused to pay FLSA overtime to its staff. Federal officials enforced the statute. The court sustained the FLSA's application because the business affected interstate commerce.
Restaurant workers sued under the FLSA for unpaid wages. They had signed an arbitration agreement containing a class waiver. The court enforced the agreement, sending the FLSA claims to individual arbitration.
Yes. The Eleventh Amendment and Hans v. Louisiana prevent private citizens from suing states for money damages in federal court absent consent or valid abrogation. FLSA amendments rest on Article I authority, which Seminole Tribe holds cannot abrogate immunity.
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Yes. Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority overruled National League of Cities and confirmed that Congress may extend the FLSA to states when regulating states and private entities alike. Political-process safeguards protect state interests rather than judicial limits on traditional functions.
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Yes. Alden v. Maine holds that Article I powers do not allow Congress to subject nonconsenting states to private damages suits in their own courts. The same constitutional symmetry that blocks federal-court actions applies in state court.
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Yes under Ex parte Young. The doctrine permits federal suits for prospective relief against officers violating federal law. Claims seeking only forward-looking compliance with wage-and-hour rules may proceed even when damages claims are barred.
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…are within Congress' power to regulate. Id. , at 37. In United States v. Darby , 312 U. S. 100 (1941), the Court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act, stating: "The power of Congress over interstate commerce is not confined to the regulation of commerce among the states. It extends to those activities intrastate which so affect…