§776.5 Coverage not dependent on method of compensation.

The Act's individual employee coverage is not limited to employees working on an hourly wage. The requirements of section 6 as to minimum wages are that "each" employee described therein shall be paid wages at a rate not less than a specified rate "an hour". ¹⁵ This does not mean that employees cannot be paid on a piecework basis or on a salary, commission, or other basis; it merely means that whatever the basis on which the workers are paid, whether it be monthly, weekly, or on a piecework basis, they must receive at least the equivalent of the minimum hourly rate. "Each" and "any" employee obviously and necessarily includes one compensated by a unit of time, by the piece, or by any other measurement. ¹⁶ Regulations prescribed by the Administrator (part 516 of this chapter) provide for the keeping of records in such form as to enable compensation on a piecework or other basis to be translated into an hourly rate. ¹⁷

¹⁵ Special exceptions are made for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

¹⁶United States v. Rosenwasser, 323 U.S. 360.

¹⁷ For methods of translating other forms of compensation into an hourly rate for purposes of sections 6 and 7, see parts 531 and 778 of this chapter.

[35 FR 5543, Apr. 3, 1970]