CPP Wage & Hour Laws 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which enforcement agency is responsible for administering the FLSA's wage and hour provisions?
- Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) (Correct answer)
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
- Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service
Correct answer: Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor investigates, enforces, and administers FLSA minimum wage, overtime, and child labor requirements.
Question 2: An employer discovers it has underpaid an employee's overtime for the past 18 months due to a non-willful error. What is the maximum back pay period the WHD can recover?
- 2 years (Correct answer)
- 1 year
- 3 years
- 18 months
Correct answer: 2 years
For non-willful FLSA violations, the statute of limitations is 2 years, so back pay recovery is limited to the 2 years preceding the filing of the complaint.
Question 3: Which of the following business types is NOT automatically covered by the FLSA under 'enterprise coverage'?
- A sole proprietor lawn care business with annual sales of $200,000 (Correct answer)
- A hospital with annual revenues of $600,000
- A school for mentally ill residents
- A retail business with annual sales of $600,000
Correct answer: A sole proprietor lawn care business with annual sales of $200,000
Enterprise coverage requires annual gross sales of at least $500,000 (or operation in certain industries); a business with $200,000 in sales does not meet the threshold.
Question 4: A retail store claims the retail or service establishment exemption from FLSA overtime for a commissioned salesperson. Which condition must be met?
- More than half the employee's earnings must come from commissions and the regular rate must exceed 1.5x minimum wage (Correct answer)
- The employee must earn at least $684/week on a salary basis
- The employee must be classified as a manager with supervisory duties
- The establishment must have fewer than 50 employees
Correct answer: More than half the employee's earnings must come from commissions and the regular rate must exceed 1.5x minimum wage
Under FLSA Section 7(i), the retail/service exemption requires that over 50% of compensation comes from commissions and the regular rate exceeds 1.5 times the applicable minimum wage.
Question 5: Which of the following payments is EXCLUDED from the FLSA regular rate of pay calculation?
- Discretionary bonuses determined at the employer's sole discretion (Correct answer)
- Shift differential premiums
- Nondiscretionary production bonuses
- Piece-rate earnings
Correct answer: Discretionary bonuses determined at the employer's sole discretion
Discretionary bonuses—those not promised in advance and whose amount is determined solely by the employer—are excluded from the regular rate under FLSA Section 7(e)(3).
Question 6: Which FLSA provision allows hospitals and residential care establishments to use an 8-and-80 overtime agreement?
- Section 7(j) (Correct answer)
- Section 7(k)
- Section 7(i)
- Section 13(a)(1)
Correct answer: Section 7(j)
Section 7(j) permits qualifying healthcare employers to enter 8-and-80 agreements, paying overtime for hours over 8 in a day or 80 in a 14-day period.
Question 7: Under the Portal-to-Portal Act, which of the following activities at the worksite IS compensable under the FLSA?
- Time spent donning and doffing protective gear that is integral and indispensable to principal job duties (Correct answer)
- Walking from a parking lot to the employee entrance
- Preliminary activities performed entirely for the employee's own benefit
- Postliminary activities after the last principal activity of the day
Correct answer: Time spent donning and doffing protective gear that is integral and indispensable to principal job duties
The Portal-to-Portal Act excludes most preliminary and postliminary activities, but the Supreme Court held in Steiner v. Mitchell that donning/doffing integral protective gear remains compensable.
CPP Wage & Hour Laws 5
Which enforcement agency is responsible for administering the FLSA's wage and hour provisions?