Two Years of the Wage-Hour Law

Report Outline
The Wage-Hour Law and National Defense
Coverage of the Wage-Hour Law
Administration and Enforcement of the Act
Special Focus

The Wage-Hour Law and National Defense

Reduction in Maximum Workweek Next October 25

On October 25, 1940, the maximum workweek in industries covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act will be reduced from 42 to 40 hours, in accordance with the terms of the statute. An estimated 3,000,000 employees out of the 12,300,000 covered by the law are now working more than 40 hours a week. The hours of these employees must either be reduced to 40 a week or the employees must be paid time and one-half for hours worked above 40 a week.

Roosevelt's Opposition to Relaxation of the Law

The reduction in hours, which will mark the beginning of the third year of operation of the wage-hour law, will doubtless be followed by a revival of pressure in Congress at its 1941 session for repeal or amendment of the act. Outright repeal was advocated by the United States Chamber of Commerce as early as May, 1939, and in recent months, some employers have insisted that the terms of the law have made it difficult to expand production for national defense.

Drastic amendments were defeated by the House early in the 1940 session, and the Roosevelt administration has made it clear that future attempts to modify the labor standards established by the act will be vigorously opposed. In a speech to the teamsters' union at Washington, September 11, the President said: