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PageThe U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is the text of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (Pub. L. 88-38) (EPA), as amended, as it appears in volume 29 of the United States Code, at section 206(d). The EPA, which is part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (FLSA), and which is administered and enforced by the EEOC, prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who are performing under similar working conditions. Cross references to the EPA as enacted appear in italics following the section heading. Additional provisions of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, as amended, are included as they appear in volume 29 of the United States Code.
MINIMUM WAGE
SEC. 206. [Section 6]
(d) (1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this
section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such
employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying
wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at
which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment
for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill,
effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working
conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority
system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by
quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any
other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is
paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not,
in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage
rate of any employee.
(2) No labor organization, or its agents, representing employees of
an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section
shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against
an employee in violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement, any amounts
owing to any employee which have been withheld in violation of this
subsection shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime
compensation under this chapter.
(4) As used in this subsection, the term ``labor organization''
means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee
representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which
exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers
concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of
employment, or conditions of work.
____________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS OF EQUAL PAY ACT OF 1963
An Act
To prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by
employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the
"Equal Pay Act of 1963."
***
DECLARATION OF PURPOSE
Not Reprinted in U.S. Code [Section 2]
(a) The Congress hereby finds that the existence in industries engaged
in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce of wage
differentials based on sex-
(1) depresses wages and living standards for employees necessary
for their health and efficiency;
(2) prevents the maximum utilization of the available labor
resources;
(3) tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening, affecting,
and obstructing commerce;
(4) burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and
(5) constitutes an unfair method of competition.
(b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act, through exercise
by Congress of its power to regulate commerce among the several States and
with foreign nations, to correct the conditions above referred to in such
industries.
[Section 3 of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 amends section 6 of the Fair
Labor Standards Act by adding a new subsection (d). The amendment is
incorporated in the revised text of the Fair Labor Standards Act.]
EFFECTIVE DATE
Not Reprinted in U.S. Code [Section 4]
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect upon the expiration
of one year from the date of its enactment: Provided, That in case of
employees covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement in effect
at least thirty days prior to the date of enactment of this Act, entered
into by a labor organization (as defined in section 6(d)(4) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended), the amendments made by this Act
shall take effect upon the termination of such collective bargaining
agreement or upon the expiration of two years from the date of enactment
of this Act, whichever shall first occur.
Approved June 10, 1963, 12 m.
[In the following excerpts from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,
as amended, authority given to the Secretary of Labor is exercised by the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for purposes of enforcing the
Equal Pay Act of 1963.]
ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES
SEC. 209 [Section 9]
For the purpose of any hearing or investigation provided for in this
chapter, the provisions of sections 49 and 50 of title 15 [sections 9
and 10] (relating to the attendance of witnesses and the production of
books, papers, and documents), of the Federal Trade Commission Act of
September 16, 1914, as amended (U.S.C., 1934 edition, title 15, secs. 49
and 50), are made applicable to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of
the Administrator, the Secretary of Labor, and the industry committees.
INVESTIGATIONS, INSPECTIONS, RECORDS, AND HOMEWORK REGULATIONS
SEC. 211 [Section 11]
(a) The Administrator or his designated representatives may
investigate and gather data regarding the wages, hours, and other
conditions and practices of employment in any industry subject to this
chapter, and may enter and inspect such places and such records (and make
such transcriptions thereof), question such employees, and investigate
such facts, conditions, practices, or matters as he may deem necessary or
appropriate to determine whether any person has violated any provision of
this chapter, or which may aid in the enforcement of the provisions of
this chapter. Except as provided in section 212 [section 12] of
this title and in subsection (b) of this section, the Administrator shall
utilize the bureaus and divisions of the Department of Labor for all the
investigations and inspections necessary under this section. Except as
provided in section 212 [section 12], the Administrator shall bring
all actions under section 217 [section 17] of this title to
restrain violations of this chapter.
(b) With the consent and cooperation of State agencies charged with the
administration of State labor laws, the Administrator and the Secretary of
Labor may, for the purpose of carrying out their respective functions and
duties under this chapter, utilize the services of State and local
agencies and their employees and, notwithstanding any other provision of
law, may reimburse such State and local agencies and their employees for
services rendered for such purposes.
(c) Every employer subject to any provision of this chapter or of any
order issued under this chapter shall make, keep, and preserve such
records of the persons employed by him and of the wages, hours, and other
conditions and practices of employment maintained by him, and shall
preserve such records for such periods of time, and shall make such
reports therefrom to the Administrator as he shall prescribe by regulation
or order as necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of the provisions
of this chapter or the regulations or orders thereunder. The employer of
an employee who performs substitute work described in section 207(p)(3)
[section 7(p)(3)] of this title may not be required under this
subsection to keep a record of the hours of the substitute work.
(d) The Administrator is authorized to make such regulations and orders
regulating, restricting, or prohibiting industrial homework as are
necessary or appropriate to prevent the circumvention or evasion of and to
safeguard the minimum wage rate prescribed in this chapter, and all
existing regulations or orders of the Administrator relating to industrial
homework are continued in full force and effect.
EXEMPTIONS
SEC. 213 [Section 13]
(a) The provisions of sections 206 [section 6] (except
subsection (d) in the case of paragraph (1) of this subsection) and
section 207 [section 7] shall not apply with respect to-
(1) any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative,
or professional capacity (including any employee employed in the capacity
of academic administrative personnel or teacher in elementary or secondary
schools), or in the capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are
defined and delimited from time to time by regulations of the Secretary,
subject to the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 [the
Administrative Procedure Act], except that an employee of a retail or
service establishment shall not be excluded from the definition of
employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity
because of the number of hours in his workweek which he devotes to
activities not directly or closely related to the performance of executive
or administrative activities, if less than 40 per centum of his hours
worked in the workweek are devoted to such activities); or
(2) *** (Repealed)
[Note: Section 13(a)(2) (relating to employees employed by a retail or
service establishment) was repealed by Pub. L. 101-157, section 3(c)(1),
November 17, 1989.]
(3) any employee employed by an establishment which is an amusement
or recreational establishment, organized camp, or religious or non-profit
educational conference center, if (A) it does not operate for more than
seven months in any calendar year, or (B) during the preceding calendar
year, its average receipts for any six months of such year were not more
than 33 1/3 per centum of its average receipts for the other six months of
such year, except that the exemption from sections 206 and 207
[sections 6 and 7] of this title provided by this paragraph does
not apply with respect to any employee of a private entity engaged in
providing services or facilities (other than, in the case of the exemption
from section 206 [section 6], a private entity engaged in providing
services and facilities directly related to skiing) in a national park or
a national forest, or on land in the National Wildlife Refuge System,
under a contract with the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of
Agriculture; or
(4) *** (Repealed)
[Note: Section 13(a)(4) (relating to employees employed by an
establishment which qualified as an exempt retail establishment) was
repealed by Pub. L. 101-157, Section 3(c)(1), November 17, 1989.]
(5) any employee employed in the catching, taking, propagating,
harvesting, cultivating, or farming of any kind of fish, shellfish,
crustacea, sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms of animal and
vegetable life, or in the first processing, canning or packing such marine
products at sea as an incident to, or in conjunction with, such fishing
operations, including the going to and returning from work and loading and
unloading when performed by any such employee; or
(6) any employee employed in agriculture (A) if such employee is
employed by an employer who did not, during any calendar quarter during
the preceding calendar year, use more than five hundred man-days or
agricultural labor, (B) if such employee is the parent, spouse, child, or
other member of his employer's immediate family, (C) if such employee (i)
is employed as a hand harvest laborer and is paid on a piece rate basis in
an operation which has been, and is customarily and generally recognized
as having been, paid on a piece rate basis in the region of employment,
(ii) commutes daily from his permanent residence to the farm on which he
is so employed, and (iii) has been employed in agriculture less than
thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year, (D) if such employee
(other than an employee described in clause (C) of this subsection) (i) is
sixteen years of age or under and is employed as a hand harvest laborer,
is paid on a piece rate basis in an operation which has been, and is
customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece rate
basis in the region of employment, (ii) is employed on the same farm as
his parent or person standing in the place of his parent, and (iii) is
paid at the same piece rate as employees over age sixteen are paid on the
same farm, or (E) if such employee is principally engaged in the range
production of livestock; or
(7) any employee to the extent that such employee is exempted by
regulations, order, or certificate of the Secretary issued under section
214 [section 14] of this title; or
(8) any employee employed in connection with the publication of any
weekly, semiweekly, or daily newspaper with a circulation of less than
four thousand the major part of which circulation is within the county
where published or counties contiguous thereto; or
(9) *** (Repealed)
[Note: Section 13(a)(9) (relating to motion picture theater employees)
was repealed by section 23 of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974.
The 1974 amendments created an exemption for such employees from the
overtime provisions only in section 13(b)27.]
(10) any switchboard operator employed by an independently owned
public telephone company which has not more than seven hundred and fifty
stations; or
(11) *** (Repealed)
[Note: Section 13(a)(11) (relating to telegraph agency employees) was
repealed by section 10 of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974.
The 1974 amendments created an exemption from the overtime provisions only
in section 13(b)(23), which was repealed effective May 1, 1976.]
(12) any employee employed as a seaman on a vessel other than an
American vessel; or
(13) *** (Repealed)
[Note: Section 13(a)(13) (relating to small logging crews) was repealed
by section 23 of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1974. The 1974
amendments created an exemption for such employees from the overtime
provisions only in section 13(b)(28)]
(14) *** (Repealed)
[Note: Section 13(a)(14) (relating to employees employed in growing and
harvesting of shade grown tobacco) was repealed by section 9 of the Fair
Labor Standards Amendments of 1974. The 1974 amendments created an
exemption for certain tobacco producing employees from the overtime
provisions only in section 13(b)(22). The section 13(b)(22) exemption was
repealed, effective January 1, 1978, by section 5 of the Fair Labor
Standards Amendments of 1977.]
(15) any employee employed on a casual basis in domestic service
employment to provide babysitting services or any employee employed in
domestic service employment to provide companionship services for
individuals who (because of age or infirmity) are unable to care for
themselves (as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of the
Secretary).
***
(g) The exemption from section 206 [section 6] of this title
provided by paragraph (6) of subsection (a) of this section shall not
apply with respect to any employee employed by an establishment (1) which
controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, another
establishment the activities of which are not related for a common
business purpose to, but materially support the activities of the
establishment employing such employee; and (2) whose annual gross volume
of sales made or business done, when combined with the annual gross volume
of sales made or business done by each establishment which controls, is
controlled by, or is under common control with, the establishment
employing such employee, exceeds $10,000,000 (exclusive of excise taxes at
the retail level which are separately stated).
PROHIBITED ACTS
SEC. 215 [Section 15]
(a) After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from June 25,
1938 [the date of enactment of this Act], it shall be unlawful for
any person-
(1) to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell
in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that shipment or
delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the
production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 206
[section 6] or section 207 [section 7] of this title, or in
violation of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under section
214 [section 14] of this title, except that no provision of this
chapter shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the
transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any
goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this
chapter shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any
goods for transportation; and except that any such transportation, offer,
shipment, delivery, or sale of such goods by a purchaser who acquired them
in good faith in reliance on written assurance from the producer that the
goods were produced in compliance with the requirements of this chapter,
and who acquired such goods for value without notice of any such
violation, shall not be deemed unlawful;
(2) to violate any of the provisions of section 206 [section
6] or section 207 [section 7] of this title, on any of the
provisions of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under
section 214 [section 14] of this title;
(3) to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any
employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or
caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this chapter,
or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or has
served or is about to serve on an industry committee;
(4) to violate any of the provisions of section 212 [section
12] of this title;
(5) to violate any of the provisions of section 211(c) [section
11(c)] of this title, or any regulation or order made or continued in
effect under the provisions of section 211(d) [section 11(d)] of
this title, or to make any statement, report, or record filed or kept
pursuant to the provisions of such section or of any regulation or order
thereunder, knowing such statement, report, or record to be false in a
material respect.
(b) For the purpose of subsection (a)(1) of this section proof that any
employee was employed in any place of employment where goods shipped or
sold in commerce were produced, within ninety days prior to the removal of
the goods from such place of employment, shall be prima facie evidence
that such employee was engaged in the production of such goods.
PENALTIES
SEC. 216 [Section 16]
(a) Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of section
215 [section 15] of this title shall upon conviction thereof be
subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not
more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this
subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of such
person for a prior offense under this subsection.
(b) Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 [section
6] or section 207 [section 7] of this title shall be liable to
the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum
wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in
an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who
violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) [section 15(a)(3)] of
this title shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be
appr opriate to effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) [section
15(a)(3)], including without limitation employment, reinstatement,
promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as
liquidated damages. An action to recover the liability prescribed in
either of the preceding sentences may be maintained against any employer
(including a public agency) in an Federal or State court of competent
jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or
themselves and other employees similarly situated. No employee shall be
a party plaintiff to any such action unless he gives his consent in
writing to become such a party and such consent is filed in the court in
which such action is brought. The court in such action shall, in
addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, allow a
reasonable attorney's fee to be paid by the defendant, and costs of the
action. The right provided by this subsection to bring an action by or on
behalf of any employee, and the right of any employee to become a party
plaintiff to any such action, shall terminate upon the filing of a
complaint by the Secretary of Labor in an action under section 217
[section 17] in which (1) restraint is sought of any further delay
in the payment of unpaid minimum wages, or the amount of unpaid overtime
compensation as the case may be, owing to such employee under section 206
[section 6] or section 207 [section 7] of this title by an
employer liable therefore und er the provisions of this subsection or (2)
legal or equitable relief is sought as a result of alleged violations of
section 215(a)(3) [section 15(a)(3)] of this title.
(c) The Secretary is authorized to supervise the payment of the unpaid
minimum wages or the unpaid overtime compensation owing to any employee or
employees under section 206 [section 6] or section 207 [section
7] of this title, and the agreement of any employee to accept such
payment shall upon payment in full constitute a waiver by such employee of
any right he may have under subsection (b) of this section to such unpaid
minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation and an additional equal
amount as liquidated damages. The Secretary may bring an action in any
court of competent jurisdiction to recover the amount of the unpaid
minimum wages or overtime compensation and an equal amount as liquidated
damages. The right provided by subsection (b) to bring an action by or on
behalf of any employee to recover the liability specified in the first
sentence of such subsection and of any employee to become a party
plaintiff to any such action shall terminate upon the filing of a
complaint by the Secretary in an action under this subsection in which a
recovery is sought of unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation
under sections 206 and 207 [sections 6 and 7] of this title or
liquidated or other damages provided by this subsection owing to such
employee by an employer liable under the provisions of subsection (b) of
this section, unless such action is dismissed without prejudice on motion
of the Secretary. Any sums thus recovered by the Secretary of Labor on
behalf of an employee pursuant to this subsection shall be held in a
special deposit account and shall be paid on order of the Secretary of
Labor, directly to the employee or employees affected. Any such sums not
paid to an employee because of inability to do so within a period of three
years shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as
miscellaneous receipts. In determining when an action is commenced by the
Secretary of Labor under this subsection for the purposes of the statutes
of limitations provided in section 255(a) of this title [section 6(a)
of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947], it shall be considered to be
commenced in the case of any individual claimant on the date when the
complaint is filed if he is specifically named as a party plaintiff in the
complaint, or if his name did not so appear, on the subsequent date on
which his name is added as a party plaintiff in such action.
(d) In any action or proceeding commenced prior to, on, or after August 8,
1956 [the date of enactment of this subsection], no employer shall
be subject to any liability or punishment under this chapter or the
Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 [29 U.S.C. 251 et seq.] or on account
of his failure to comply with any provision or provisions or such Act (1)
with respect to work heretofore or hereafter performed in a work place to
which the exemption in section 213(f) [section 13(f)] is
applicable, (2) with respect to work performed in Guam, the Canal Zone or
Wake Island before the effective date of this amendment of subsection (d),
or (3) with respect to work performed in a possession named in section
206(a)(3) [section 6(a)(3)] of this title at any time prior to the
establishment by the Secretary, as provided therein, of a minimum wage
rate applicable to such work.
(e) Any person who violates the provisions of section 212 of this title,
relating to child labor, or any regulation issued under that section,
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each
employee who was the subject of such a violation. Any person who
repeatedly or willfully violates section 206 or 207 of this title shall be
subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $1,000 for each such
violation. In determining the amount of any penalty under this
subsection, the appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the
business of the person charged and the gravity of the violation shall be
considered. The amount of any penalty under this subsection, when finally
determined, may be-
(1) deducted from any sums owing by the United States to the person
charged;
(2) recovered in a civil action brought by the Secretary in any
court of competent jurisdiction, in which litigation the Secretary shall
be represented by the Solicitor of Labor; or
(3) ordered by the court, in an action brought for a violation of
section 215(a)(4) of this title or a repeated or willful violation of
section 215(a)(2) of this title, to be paid to the Secretary.
Any administrative determination by the Secretary of the amount of any
penalty under this subsection shall be final, unless within fifteen days
after receipt of notice thereof by certified mail the person charged with
the violation takes exception to the determination that the violations for
which the penalty is imposed occurred, in which event final determination
of the penalty shall be made in an administrative proceeding after
opportunity for hearing in accordance with section 554 of Title 5, and
regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary. Except for civil
penalties collected for violations of section 212 of this title, sums
collected as penalties pursuant to this section shall be applied toward
reimbursement of the costs of determining the violations and assessing and
collecting such penalties, in accordance with the provisions of section 9a
of this title. Civil penalties collected for violations of section 212 of
this title shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.
INJUNCTION PROCEEDINGS
SEC. 217 [Section 17]
The districts courts, together with the United States District Court
for the District of the Canal Zone, the District Court of the Virgin
Islands, and the District Court of Guam shall have jurisdiction, for cause
shown, to restrain violations of section 215 [section 15] of this
title, including in the case of violations of section 15(a)(2) of this
title the restraint of any withholding of payment of minimum wages or
overtime compensation found by the court to be due to employees under this
chapter (except sums which employees are barred from recovering, at the
time of the commencement of the action to restrain the violations, by
virtue of the provisions of section 255 of this title [section 6 of the
Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947].
RELATION TO OTHER LAWS
SEC. 218 [Section 18]
(a) No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall
excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance
establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under
this chapter or a maximum workweek lower than the maximum workweek
established under this chapter, and no provision of this chapter relating
to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any
Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard
than the standard established under this chapter. No provision of this
chapter shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is
in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this chapter, or justify
any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are
shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this chapter.
SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS
SEC. 219 [Section 19]
If any provision of this chapter or the application of such provision
to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the
chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or
circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
Approved June 25, 1938.
[In the following excerpts from the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947, the
authority given to the Secretary of Labor is exercised by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission for purposes of enforcing the Equal Pay
Act of 1963.]
PART IV - MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 255 [Section 6] Statute of Limitations.
Any action commenced on or after May 14, 1947 [the date of the
enactment of this Act], to enforce any cause of action for unpaid
minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, [29 U.S.C. 201 et
seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act [41 U.S.C. 35 et seq.], or the
Bacon-Davis Act [40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.]-
(a) if the cause of action accrues on or after May 14, 1947 [the date
of the enactment of this Act]-may be commenced within two years after
the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred
unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued,
except that a cause of action arising out a willful violation may be
commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued;
SEC. 256 [Section 7] Determination of Commencement of Future
Actions.
In determining when an action is commenced for the purposes of section 255
[section 6] of this title, an action commenced on or after May 14,
1947 [the date of the enactment of this Act] under the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as amended, [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the
Walsh-Healey Act [41 U.S.C. 35 et seq.], or the Bacon-Davis Act
[40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.], shall be considered to be commenced on
the date when the complaint is filed; except that in the case of a
collective or class action instituted under the Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938, as amended, or the Bacon-Davis Act, it shall be considered to be
commenced in the case of any individual claimant-
(a) on the date when the complaint is filed, if he is specifically named
as a party plaintiff in the complaint and his written consent to become a
party plaintiff is filed on such date in the court in which the action is
brought; or
(b) if such written consent was not so filed or if his name did not so
appear-on the subsequent date on which such written consent is filed in
the court in which the action was commenced.
SEC. 259 [Section 10] Reliance in Future on Administrative
Rulings, Etc.
(a) In any action or proceeding based on any act or omission on or
after May 14, 1947 [the date of the enactment of this Act], no
employer shall be subject to any liability or punishment for or on account
of the failure of the employer to pay minimum wages or overtime
compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended,
[29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act [41 U.S.C. 35 et
seq.], or the Bacon-Davis Act [40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.], if he
pleads and proves that the act or omission complained of was in good faith
in conformity with and in reliance on any written administrative
regulation, order, ruling, approval, or interpretation, of the agency of
the United States specified in subsection (b) of this section, or any
administrative practice or enforcement policy of such agency with respect
to the class of employers to which he belonged. Such a defense, if
established, shall be a bar to the action or proceeding, notwithstanding
that after such act or omission, such administrative regulation, order,
ruling, approval, interpretation, practice, or enforcement policy is
modified or rescinded or is determined by judicial authority to be invalid
or of no legal effect.
(b) The agency referred to in subsection (a) shall be-
(1) in the case of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended
[29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.]- the Administrator of the Wage and Hour
Division of the Department of Labor;
SEC. 260 [Section 11] Liquidated Damages.
In any action commenced prior to or on or after May 14, 1947 [the date
of the enactment of this Act] to recover unpaid minimum wages, unpaid
overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as amended, [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.] if the
employer shows to the satisfaction of the court that the act or omission
giving rise to such action was in good faith and that he had reasonable
grounds for believing that his act or omission was not a violation of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.]
the court may, in its sound discretion, award no liquidated damages or
award any amount thereof not to exceed the amount specified in section 216
[section 16] of this title.
SEC. 262 [Section 13] Definitions.
(a) When the terms "employer," "employee," and
"wage" are used in this chapter in relation to the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as amended, [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.] they
shall have the same meaning as when used in such Act of 1938.
Not Reprinted in U.S. Code [Section 14] Separability.
If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and
the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall
not be affected thereby.
Not Reprinted in U.S. Code [Section 15] Short Title.
This Act may be cited as the "Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947."
Approved May 14, 1947.
This page was last modified on January 15, 1997.