Oct. 24, 1938: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 shortens work hours

Sunday 24 October 2010

On Oct. 24, 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, also knows as the Wages and Hours Bill, became law. The act set a national 25-cent minimum hourly wage and a 44-hour maximum work week and established child-labor laws.

The act remains the standard for regulating employees’ rights and wages, but exemptions exist, predominantly for executive, professional and administrative positions. The most recent change to the minimum wage occurred May 25, 2007, when President Bush signed into law an incrementally increasing minimum wage capped at $7.25 per hour by mid-2009.