The Fair Labor Standards Act provides overtime protections for non-exempt employees. At its inception, it was designed to be a broad statute covering the vast majority of workers. Some commentators have argued that the Act should be modernized. After all, the FLSA was passed in 1938 and reflects, at least in part, the political economy of the time it was passed and not the current era. The FLSA—like much of our work law—was designed for manufacturing in urban centers. It was designed mostly with men in mind. It was designed for able-bodied persons. It was designed to benefit a population that was mostly white. It was designed to address a world where most workers were employees. It was designed to preserve a particular balance of power between management and labor.
- Do the enforcement mechanisms for the FLSA match the challenges it presents?
- How might we amend the law or alter enforcement to account for the nature of work and changes in the labor market in the 21st Century?
- If you were to modernize the FLSA, would you make changes to the scope of exempt and non-exempt employees? If so, how? Be specific in your analysis.
