Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Law

1. the first act in the United States prescribing nationwide compulsory federal regulation of wages and hours, sponsored by Senator Robert F. Wagner of New York. The law, applying to all industries engaged in interstate commerce, established a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour for the first year, to be increased to 40 cents within seven years. No worker was obliged to work, without compensation at overtime rates, more than 44 hours a week during the first year, 42 the second year, and 40 thereafter. A 1963 amendment, the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206 (d), barred gender discrimination in pay rates for the same work done under similar conditions.