[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR776.7]

[Page 368]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 776_INTERPRETATIVE BULLETIN ON THE GENERAL COVERAGE OF THE WAGE AND 
HOURS PROVISIONS OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938--Table of Contents
 
                            Subpart A_General
 
Sec. 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 Sec. 776.15 
(a).) ``Commerce'' is defined to mean described activities ``among the 
several States or between any State and any place outside thereof.'' 
(See Sec. 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.
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    \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]

                        Engaging ``In Commerce''