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Government and Legal Issues in Compensation

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| GOVERNMENT AND LEGAL ISSUES IN COMPENSATION | | | Wendy Kendall | |

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Abstract The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was designed in an effort to bring the United States out of the Great Depression, but has evolved into one of the most important legislative measures to ensure fairness for all employees. This paper highlights government’s role in the compensation as well as the main provisions of the FLSA including minimum wage, overtime, record-keeping, and child labor laws. It also illustrates real and potential costs of non-compliance. Keywords: FLSA, minimum wage, overtime, child labor laws

Introduction The main objective of government’s role in compensation is to assure that procedures for determining pay are fair to all. Government intervention in the compensation process includes equal pay for both men and women when performing equal or similar jobs, eliminating exploitation of children, and safety nets for unemployment and the disadvantaged. Beginning with the creation of the Bureau of Labor in 1888, government intervention has addressed many injustices, and continues to update them as new issues arise. The purpose of this paper is to track the evolution of government’s role in the compensation process, expand on some of the more prevalent laws, and highlight class action or individual legal actions against companies that violate these regulations.
History
Government intervention in the labor market began in 1867 when the House of Representatives created a standing committee on labor, marking the first Federal recognition of labor's importance (Grossman, 1973). In 1888, the Bureau of labor was established in the Department of Interior, but it was not until March 4, 1913, that the Department of Labor was created through a bill signed by President Taft in the last hours in office. The first official legislation enacted by the

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