Administration of Minimum Wage Provisions. Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa Table Appendix I A. Number of underpaid employees and amount of underpayment disclosed by investigations under the Fair Labor Standards and Public Contracts Acts, by fiscal year, 1950-59... B. Number of underpaid employees and amount of underpayment disclosed by investigations under the Fair Labor Standards and Public Contracts Acts, by region, fiscal year 1959.. C. Number of minors found employed in violation of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Public Contracts Act, by industry and age of minor, fiscal year 1959.. D. Minimum wage rates established by industry committees in Puerto Rico, fiscal year 1959, compared with fiscal year 1958.. E. Distribution of increases in Puerto Rican minimum wage rates by magnitude of the increases, October 31, 1955, to June 30, 1959. F. Percent distribution of employees in Puerto Rico subject to minimum wage rates, by minimum rate applicable to the industry in which they are employed, as of June 30, 1957, 1958, and 1959.... G. Percent distribution of employees in Puerto Rican industries, by increase in minimum wage rates during fiscal years 1957, 1958, and 1959... H. Learner rates provided by special industry learner regulations revised in fiscal year 1959, compared with former rates, by industry.. Page 238 239 240 242 243 244 244 244 I. Actions taken on applications for learner certificates, fiscal years 1959 and 1958..... 245 J. Learner certificates in effect June 30, 1959, by industry and by type of learner regulation. 245 K. Summary of minimum wage determinations applicable under the Public Contracts Act, June 30, 1959... 246 L. Number and value of unclassified procurement actions subject to the Public Contracts Act, fiscal year 1959........... 250 M. Number and value of unclassified contracts subject to the Public 250 N. Violations of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Public Contracts Act in nonagricultural establishments, by region and State, fiscal year 1959..... 251 O. Number of minors found employed in violation of hazardous occupations orders issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act, fiscal year 1959.... 252 P. Number of minors found illegally employed on farms in investigations made under the Fair Labor Standards Act, by region, State, and age of minor, fiscal year 1959. 253 Table Page Q. Number of minors found illegally employed on farms in investi gations made under the Fair Labor Standards Act, by age and 254 Appendix II The Child Labor Program. 255 Introduction The past 12 months have witnessed marked advances in the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions' administration of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. Improved enforcement of the statutory requirements has benefited workers and mitigated disadvantages that confront complying employers in competing with firms violating the wage laws. Such factors as improvements in investigation programing and techniques, greater reliance on local staff members' knowledge of conditions in the areas they serve, and an increase in the number of calls on the Divisions' assistance have resulted in the discovery of more than $22.4 million in back wages due workers. This is almost $3 million more than last year's figure, which itself was the largest amount found due in a decade. Employers agreed to pay almost $12.9 million in back wages found due, a greater gain for underpaid employees than in any year since the immediate postwar period, and almost $2 million more than the amount workers received as a result of the Divisions' activities in the preceding year. By far the greater part of the back wages owed and paid was due under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The act-popularly known as the Federal wage and hour law applies to employees engaged in or producing goods for interstate commerce. Unless specifically exempt, such employees must be paid at least a minimum wage of $1 an hour and not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked over 40 in the workweek. The act also contains child labor provisions which establish safeguards for the employment of young workers, under appropriate conditions and without jeopardizing their schooling. In the course of its 21 years of existence, the act has been amended from time to time in response to changes in economic conditions. The last major revision of its basic provisions, the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1955, increased the minimum wage from 75 cents an hour to the present $1, effective March 1, 1956. This was estimated to have meant direct increases in pay for more than 2 million of the 24 million workers entitled to the protection of the minimum wage provisions, the application of which was not changed by the amendments. During the 1959 fiscal year, the Department completed its 3-year program of studies on the economic effects of the $1 minimum wage, initiated following the enactment of the 1955 amendments. The completed studies covered the changes in wages, employment, and other economic variables in selected lowwage industries and localities in which the higher minimum rate had a substantial impact. Special surveys were also made to determine the distribution by average hourly earnings of employees in all manufacturing industries and in wholesale trade. |