What does the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) primarily cover?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) primarily covers wage-hour requirements for employers engaged in interstate commerce. This federal law was established to set standards for minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment in the United States. It specifically targets those employers whose operations affect interstate commerce, which typically includes a vast majority of businesses in the U.S. The FLSA aims to protect workers from exploitation by ensuring they receive fair compensation for their labor and to regulate the hours they work, making it a foundational piece of labor legislation in the country.

While workplace discrimination, collective bargaining, and safety regulations are critical aspects of employment law, they fall under different statutes, such as the Civil Rights Act for discrimination, the National Labor Relations Act for collective bargaining, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) for safety regulations. Thus, the primary focus of the FLSA is distinctly on economic protections for workers, which is why this answer is accurate.