Wage and Hour Law for Contractors

The Business exam's "Personnel Management" questions (3–5) lean on the Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act on the DBPR reference list, and Florida adds its own constitutional minimum wage. Learn the numbers: $7.25 / 40 hours / 1.5× / $500,000 / 14 / 16 / 18 / 2 years / 3 years, and Florida's $15.00 on September 30, 2026.

1. What the FLSA does — and does not — require

• Sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child-labor standards; enforced by the DOL Wage and Hour Division (WHD) for private employers.
• Minimum wage $7.25 per hour (federal, since July 24, 2009) for covered, nonexempt workers.
• Overtime: not less than one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. There is no federal daily overtime.
• Wages are due on the regular payday. Deductions for cash or merchandise shortages, employer-required uniforms, or tools of the trade are illegal to the extent they drop pay below the minimum wage or cut into overtime due.
• The FLSA does not require vacation, holiday, severance or sick pay; meal or rest periods; premium pay for weekends or holidays; raises or fringe benefits; a discharge notice or reason, or immediate payment of final wages; and it does not limit the hours or days an employee 16 or older may be scheduled. Those are matters for agreement (or state law).