[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: 29CFR779.203]

[Page 475]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 779_THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AS APPLIED TO RETAILERS OF GOODS OR 
SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
  Subpart C_Employment to Which the Act May Apply; Enterprise Coverage
 
Sec. 779.203  Distinction between ``enterprise,'' ``establishment,'' and 
``employer.''

    The coverage, exemption and other provisions of the Act depend, in 
part, on the scope of the terms employer, establishment, or enterprise. 
As explained more fully in part 776 of this chapter, these terms are not 
synonymous. The term employer has been defined in the Act since its 
inception and has a well established meaning. As defined in section 
3(d), it includes, with certain stated exceptions, any person acting 
directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an 
employee. (See Sec. 779.19.) The term establishment means a distinct 
physical place of business rather than an entire business or enterprise. 
(See Sec. 779.23.) The term enterprise was not used in the Act prior to 
the 1961 amendments, but the careful definition and the legislative 
history of the 1961 and 1966 amendments provide guidance as to its 
meaning and application. As defined in the Act, the term enterprise is 
roughly descriptive of a business rather than of an establishment or of 
an employer although on occasion the three may coincide. The enterprise 
may consist of a single establishment (see Sec. 779.204(a)) which may 
be operated by one or more employers; or it may be composed of a number 
of establishments which may be operated by one or more employers (see 
Sec. 779.204(b)). The enterprise is not necessarily coextensive with 
the entire business activities of an employer; a single employer may 
operate more than one enterprise (see Sec. 779.204(c)). The Act treats 
as separate enterprises different businesses which are unrelated to each 
other even if they are operated by the same employer.