What Are Employment Conditions

Employment conditions for employment that is agreed upon between the employer and the employee.  Some of these conditions are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and some are not.

The FLSA is administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the Employment Standards Administration in the Department of Labor.

Hours Worked Requirements Under The FSLA

The links below take you to federal guidelines concerning employment conditions.

How Many Hours Is Full-Time Employment:  The FSLA does not define how many hours is full-time employment.  This is defined by the employer.

How Many Hours Is Part-Time Employment:  The FSLA does not define how many hours is part-time employment.  This is defined by the employer.

 Who Is Covered Under The FLSA

All employees of certain enterprises are covered by the FLSA.  See the FLSA details.

Exemptions Under The FLSA

There are some exemptions to overtime pay under the FLSA.  These exemptions include commissioned sales employers, computer professionals, drivers, farm workers, salesmen, mechanics, etc.  See the FLSA details.

Night or Night Shift

The employer is not required to provide extra pay for working night shift.  However, if nonexempt workers work over 40 hours in a work week, they must be paid overtime  .See the FLSA details.

Flexible Schedule

A flexible work schedule is an alternative to the traditional "9-to-5", 40-hour work week, allowing employees to vary their arrival and/or departure times. 

Flexible schedule is a matter of agreement between the employer and employee.  The FLSA does not mandate flexible schedule.  See the FLSA details.

Breaks and Meal Periods

The FLSA does not require that employers give employees meal or rest breaks.  However, if the employer does offer breaks (5-20 minutes) they must compensate the employees. 

Employers do not have to compensate employees for meal periods (which must be minimum 30 minutes).  See the FLSA details.

Weekend Work

The employer is not required to provide extra pay for weekend work. However, covered, non-exempt employees must be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for the time worked over 40 hours in a workweek.   See the FLSA details.

Travel Time

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), time spent traveling during normal work hours is considered work time and employees must be paid for this travel time. Generally, time spent commuting is not work time.  See the FLSA details.

Job Sharing

Job sharing means that two (or more) workers share the duties of one full-time job, each working part time; or two or more workers who have unrelated part-time assignments share the same budget line.

Job sharing is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee.  The FLSA does not regulate this.  See the FLSA details.

Overtime Pay

Employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek of at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay.

The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest unless those hours exceed 40 for the workweek. Extra pay for working weekends or nights is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee.  See the FLSA details.