11th Circuit: Doesn't take much interstate commerce to trigger FLSA coverage

The 11th Circuit (which has appellate jurisdiction over federal trial courts in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) recently issued an important decision about when an employee is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, the court looked at whether the Act protects an employee who makes three to five phone calls per week to out-of-state customers and vendors.

Background

The FLSA is a federal wage and hour statute that sets various requirements for how employers must pay employees. Most notably, the law requires you to pay employees at least the minimum wage for each hour worked and overtime pay of 1.5 times their normal hourly rate for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Whether the FLSA covers the employer or the employee's employment generally can be established either on an employerwide basis or a per-employee basis. Both coverage standards require either the employer or the employee to be engaged in interstate commerce.

Facts

All County Environmental Services, Inc., a pest control business, had only one location in South Florida, where Wendy St. Elien worked as an administrative assistant. She filed suit, alleging the company failed to pay her overtime. To prove she was covered under the FLSA's "individual coverage" standard, she had to show she engaged in interstate commerce in her employment.