Title 29

SECTION 776.7

776.7 Geographical scope of coverage.

§ 776.7 Geographical scope of coverage.

(a) The geographical areas within which the employees are to be deemed “engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce” within the meaning of the Act, and thus within its coverage are governed by definitions in section 3 (b), (c), and (j). In the definition of “produced” in section 3(j), “production” is expressly confined to described employments “in any State.” (See § 776.15 (a).) “Commerce” is defined to mean described activities “among the several States or between any State and any place outside thereof.” (See § 776.8.) “State” is defined in section 3(c) to mean “any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States.”

(b) Under the definitions in paragraph (a) of this section, employees within the District of Columbia; Puerto Rico; the Virgin Islands; Outer Continental Shelf lands defined in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (ch. 345, 67 Stat. 462, 43 U.S.C. 1331); American Samoa; Guam; Wake Island; Enewetok Atoll; Kwajalein Atoll; Johnston Island; and the Canal Zone are dealt with on the same basis as employees working in any of the 50 States. 20 Congress did not exercise the national legislative power over the District of Columbia or the Territories or possessions referred to by extending the Act to purely local commerce within them.

20 An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 71 Stat. 514 (approved Aug. 30, 1957) provides that no employer shall be subject to any liability or punishment under the Act with respect to work performed at any time in work places excluded from the Act's coverage by this law or for work performed prior to Nov. 29, 1957, on Guam, Wake Island, or the Canal Zone; or for work performed prior to the establishment, by the Secretary, of a minimum wage rate applicable to such work in American Samoa. Work performed by employees in “a work place within a foreign country or within territory under the jurisdiction of the United States” other than those enumerated in this paragraph is exempt by this amendment from coverage under the Act. When part of the work performed by an employee for an employer in any workweek is covered work performed in any State, it makes no difference where the remainder of such work is performed; the employee is entitled to the benefits of the Act for the entire workweek unless he comes within some specific exemption. The reference in 71 Stat. 514 to liability for work performed in American Samoa is an extension of the relief granted by the American Samoa Labor Standards Amendments of 1956 (29 U.S.C. Supp. IV, secs. 206, 213, and 216).

[15 FR 2925, May 17, 1950, as amended at 35 FR 5543, Apr. 3, 1970]

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