labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Most Tennessee employers must pay the new minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, effective July 24, 2009.

The federal minimum wage was established under the The Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA in 1938. This law made sweeping changes to the workplace. At that time, children of all ages worked alongside adults in mills, farms and factories, sometimes as many as 60 hours a week. The FLSA established child labor laws prohibiting children under the age of 14 from working in almost every job.

Another effect of the FLSA was the establishment of the federal minimum wage. On July 24, 2009, the federal minimum increased 70 cents from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. This increase affected most of the employers in Tennessee because the state has no minimum wage law.

Under the FLSA, to be eligible for federal minimum wage, an employee must work for a company that earns at least $500,000 per year. FLSA also covers businesses that engage in interstate commerce. Individual workers engaged in interstate commerce are covered by FLSA, too.

For example, a buyer contacting an out-of-state vendor via email or (more…)