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Home›Courses›Safety Training›Fair Labor Standards Act: FLSA Compliance

Fair Labor Standards Act: FLSA Compliance

25 minutesEN / ES / MLCCSafety TrainingFair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); DOL Wage and Hour Division
Quick Answer

Fair Labor Standards Act: FLSA Compliance is a 25-minute online course that covers employer obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), including minimum wage, overtime pay, employee classification, and recordkeeping requirements. It is designed for HR professionals, payroll managers, and supervisors and includes a downloadable certificate of completion.

Course Overview

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $149.9 million in back wages for over 125,000 workers in fiscal year 2024 due to FLSA violations. Overtime violations accounted for the largest share, with employers paying out nearly $127 million in back wages for overtime-related mistakes alone. Penalties for repeated or willful FLSA violations can reach $2,451 per violation, willful violations can result in criminal fines of up to $10,000, and a second criminal conviction can lead to imprisonment. Beyond government enforcement, the FLSA provides employees a private right of action to sue for unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages.

This course trains your HR professionals and managers on the core requirements of the FLSA so your organization can avoid costly compliance failures. Your team will learn how to correctly classify employees as exempt or non-exempt, calculate overtime under federal rules, comply with minimum wage requirements, and maintain the records the Department of Labor expects to see during an investigation. The course also covers child labor provisions and the FLSA's anti-retaliation protections.

What You'll Learn

  • FLSA minimum wage requirements and how they interact with state and local wage laws
  • Overtime calculation rules, including the regular rate of pay and the 40-hour workweek threshold
  • Employee classification criteria for executive, administrative, professional, and computer exemptions
  • Recordkeeping requirements for hours worked, wages paid, and employee information
  • Child labor provisions, including permissible hours and prohibited occupations for minors
  • Anti-retaliation protections for employees who file FLSA complaints
  • Common FLSA mistakes that trigger DOL enforcement actions

Who Needs This Training

  • HR directors and managers responsible for employee classification and compensation policies
  • Payroll administrators who calculate wages, overtime, and deductions
  • Hiring managers who need to understand exempt versus non-exempt classification criteria
  • Compliance officers at companies undergoing DOL Wage and Hour Division audits or investigations
  • Small business owners who manage payroll and HR functions directly
  • Supervisors who approve timesheets and authorize overtime work

Regulatory Background

The Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), enforced by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards for employees in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. In FY 2024, the WHD recovered over $149.9 million in back wages for 125,301 workers, with overtime violations representing the largest category at nearly $127 million. Civil penalties for repeated or willful minimum wage and overtime violations can reach $2,451 per violation. Willful FLSA violations can result in criminal prosecution with fines of up to $10,000, and a second conviction may result in imprisonment. Child labor violations carry penalties of up to $16,035 per violation, rising to $72,876 if the violation causes serious injury or death. The DOL's Wage and Hour Division maintains investigators across the country who conduct both complaint-driven and directed investigations, and employers found in violation may be required to pay back wages, liquidated damages, and civil penalties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Employers who violate FLSA overtime provisions can be required to pay back wages for all unpaid overtime, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. Civil money penalties for repeated or willful violations reach up to $2,451 per violation. Willful violations can result in criminal prosecution with fines up to $10,000, and a second conviction may lead to imprisonment. In FY 2024, the DOL recovered nearly $127 million in back wages for overtime violations alone.
Non-exempt employees are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay (1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 per workweek). Exempt employees are excluded from these protections if they meet specific tests for executive, administrative, professional, computer, or outside sales exemptions. These tests generally require the employee to be paid on a salary basis at or above the applicable salary threshold and to perform duties that meet the exemption criteria. Misclassification is one of the most common and costly FLSA violations.
When state or local wage and hour laws differ from the FLSA, the law that provides the greater benefit to the employee applies. For example, if a state's minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, employers in that state must pay at least the state rate. Similarly, some states have stricter overtime rules, daily overtime requirements, or additional exempt classification criteria that go beyond federal FLSA standards.
The FLSA requires employers to maintain records including employee's full name and Social Security number, address, birth date (if under 19), sex and occupation, time and day the workweek begins, hours worked each day and total hours each workweek, basis on which wages are paid, regular hourly pay rate, total daily or weekly straight-time earnings, total overtime earnings, all additions to or deductions from wages, total wages paid each pay period, and date of payment and pay period covered.
No. Employees cannot waive their rights to minimum wage or overtime pay under the FLSA, even if they agree to do so in writing. Any agreement between an employer and employee to work for less than the required minimum wage or to forgo overtime is unenforceable. The DOL and courts have consistently held that FLSA protections are non-waivable because they exist to protect workers from employer pressure to accept substandard wages.

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$24.95
per person
Volume Pricing
Team Size Price per Person
1 - 9$24.95
10 - 24$19.95
25 - 49$17.95
50 - 99$17.50
Subtotal $24.95
Language

This course is available in English, Spanish, and Multi-Language CC at no additional charge.

Certificate of completion included. Downloadable upon passing the final assessment.

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$24.95
per person