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Title 29 — LaborRelease 119-73

§261 Applicability of “area of production” regulations

Title 29 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - PORTAL-TO-PORTAL PAY › § 261

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Employers are not responsible under the Fair Labor Standards Act for failing to pay minimum wage or overtime for work done before December 26, 1946 if one of two things is true. Either a rule by the Wage and Hour Division’s administrator defining an “area of production” meant the employer was not covered at the time (even if that rule was later found invalid), or the employer would not have been covered if the regulation signed December 18, 1946 (Federal Register, Vol. 11, p. 14648) had been in effect starting October 24, 1938.

Full Legal Text

Title 29, §261

Labor — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

No employer shall be subject to any liability or punishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], on account of the failure of such employer to pay an employee minimum wages, or to pay an employee overtime compensation, for or on account of an activity engaged in by such employee prior to December 26, 1946, if such employer—
(1)was not so subject by reason of the definition of an “area of production”, by a regulation of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, which regulation was applicable at the time of performance of the activity even though at that time the regulation was invalid; or
(2)would not have been so subject if the regulation signed on December 18, 1946 (Federal Register, Vol. 11, p. 14648) had been in force on and after October 24, 1938.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, referred to in text, is act June 25, 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 8 (§ 201 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 201 of this title and Tables.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

For

Transfer of Functions

of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of Labor, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of Labor, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 6, of 1950, §§ 1, 2, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

29 U.S.C. § 261

Title 29 — Labor

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73