Employees Eligible for the Minimum Wage

There are two ways employees are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act: "enterprise coverage" and "individual coverage."

All of the employees who work for a business that is deemed an enterprise are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Enterprises must have at least two employees and an annual gross revenue of $500,000. In addition, hospitals, businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents, schools and preschools, and government agencies are enterprises.

Even when there is no enterprise coverage, employees are individually covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act if they are involved in "interstate commerce." For example, employees who produce goods that will be sent out of state, or who regularly make telephone calls to persons located in other states, are engaged in interstate commerce.

Most employees are non-exempt employees, meaning they are entitled to minimum wage. The types of employees who are exempt, meaning they are not entitled to overtime pay, including the following: executives who can hire and fire employees, administrative employees who set policies and advise management, professional employees like doctors and lawyers, computer employees who write computer code, and outside sales employees who make door to door sales. Moreover, employees employed by certain seasonal and recreational establishments, farm workers employed on small farms, babysitters on a casual basis, companions of the elderly, newspaper employees of limited circulation, newspaper delivery employees, and federal crime investigators are exempt from minimum wage. If you did not fit within any of these exemptions, you are "non-exempt" and entitled to minimum wage.