ECONOMIC COVERAGE OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT.

This article evaluates the economic coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in the United States. The basic provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act are applicable to employees who are engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. This phrase constitutes the sweep of the powers exercised by Congress in 1038. The coverage resulting from it has been limited by a considerable number of exemptions written into the Act, and of course by the definition of the terms themselves. The word commerce is defined by the Act as trade, commerce, transportation, transmission or communication among the several states or from any state to any place outside thereof. It is to be noted that this definition includes not only the instrumentalities of commerce such as railways, telegraph and radio, but also all types of trade across state lines. The phrase production, of goods for commerce is defined in very broad terms by the Act, and the courts have construed these terms broadly. The word produced is defined to include manufactured, mined, handled, or in any other manner worked on, and covers not only those who actually produce goods but also all workers engaged in any process or occupation necessary to the production thereof.