The article discusses how the FLSA was expanded in 1961 to cover all employees of a business engaged in commerce, even if some employees are not directly involved in commerce. It also talks about further expansion in 1974. The 1961 amendments to the FLSA had a definition of enterprise that included employers whose employees worked on goods that had been moved in or produced for commerce. Courts disagreed on who the ultimate consumer of the goods was. In one case, an apartment owner was found to be a covered enterprise because the tenants were seen as the ultimate consumers of the goods. In another case, state hospitals were also considered covered enterprises because their employees handled goods that had moved in interstate commerce, and the institutions were not the ultimate consumers of those goods. The court cases discussed in this section dealt with whether certain businesses were considered to be engaged in interstate commerce under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The courts looked at whether the businesses were the end users of goods that had come from out of state. Some businesses, like schools and hospitals, were found not to be considered the ultimate consumers of these goods because they were used for the benefit of their students and patients. Other businesses, like a construction company and a propane gas service, were found to be engaged in interstate commerce because they used goods that had come from out of state. The courts also considered whether the goods had left the possession of the business and were passed on to customers. In one case, a garbage removal service was found not to be engaged in interstate commerce because it only provided services to its customers and did not pass on any goods obtained from interstate commerce. Another case involved an apartment owner who was considered the ultimate consumer of cleaning and maintenance supplies, even though they were used by tenants. The tenants didn’t own the items they used while renting a place, so they couldn’t treat the rent they paid as buying the items. A law change in 1974 added “materials” to the definition of businesses covered by the law, so now any business with enough money and employees working with goods or materials from other states is covered by the law. Some businesses were found to be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act because they used items that came from out of state. This included a residential home developer, a rubbish collection business, a gasoline service station, and a home for the infirm. The court said that even if they were the end user of these items, they were still subject to the law. The court in Radulescu v. Moldowan found that apartment owners are engaged in commerce under the 1974 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This means that employees who handle products that have moved in interstate commerce are covered by the FLSA. There are two ways employees can be covered: individually, if they work with items in the stream of commerce, and as part of an enterprise, if the employer has two or more employees using goods that have moved in commerce. Small businesses may not be covered, but most businesses with at least $500,000 in business are covered. These are references to different court cases and legal opinions, along with some information about a lawyer. The lawyer, Donald J. Spero, is experienced in labor and employment law and now works as a mediator and arbitrator. He also writes articles on employment law topics. The column is submitted on behalf of the Labor and Employment Law Section. It’s all about the legal profession and different cases that lawyers have been involved in.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/coverage-of-the-fair-labor-standards-actwhat-connection-with-commerce-brings-an-employee-within-the-coverage-of-the-fair-labor-standards-act-part-2/
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