[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR531.36]

[Page 169]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 531_WAGE PAYMENTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938--Table 
of Contents
 
                        Subpart C_Interpretations
 
Sec. 531.36  Nonovertime workweeks.

    (a) When no overtime is worked by the employees, section 3(m) and 
this part apply only to the applicable minimum wage for all hours 
worked. To illustrate, where an employee works 40 hours a week at a cash 
wage rate of $1.60 an hour in a situation when that rate is the 
applicable minimum wage and is paid $64 in cash free and clear at the 
end of the workweek, and in addition is furnished facilities valued at 
$4, no consideration need be given to the question of whether such 
facilities meet the requirements of section 3(m) and this part, since 
the employee has received in cash the applicable minimum wage of $1.60 
an hour for all hours worked. Similarly, where an employee is employed 
at a rate of $1.80 an hour and during a particular workweek works 40 
hours for which he is paid $64 in cash, the employer having deducted $8 
from his wages for facilities furnished, whether such deduction meets 
the requirement of section 3(m) and subpart B of this part need not be 
considered, since the employee is still receiving, after the deduction 
has been made, a cash wage of $1.60 an hour. Deductions for board, 
lodging, or other facilities may be made in nonovertime workweeks even 
if they reduce the cash wage below the minimum, provided the prices 
charged do not exceed the ``reasonable cost'' of such facilities. When 
such items are furnished the employee at a profit, the deductions from 
wages in weeks in which no overtime is worked are considered to be 
illegal only to the extent that the profit reduces the wage (which 
includes the ``reasonable cost'' of the facilities) below the required 
minimum. Accordingly, in a situation when $1.60 an hour is the 
applicable minimum wage, if an employee employed at a rate of $1.65 an 
hour works 40 hours in a workweek and is paid only $54 in cash, $12 
having been deducted for facilities furnished to him, such facilities 
must be measured by the requirements of section 3(m) and this part to 
determine if the employee has received the minimum of $64 (40 hours x 
$1.60) in cash or in facilities which may be legitimately included in 
``wages'' payable under the Act. The same would be true where an 
employee is furnished the facilities in addition to a cash wage of $54 
for 40 hours of work. In either case, if the ``reasonable cost'' to the 
employer of legitimate facilities equals at least $10 the requirements 
of the Act are met. Cf. Southern Pacific Co. v. Joint Council Dining Car 
Employees, 165 F. (2d) 26 (C.A. 9).
    (b) Deductions for articles such as tools, miners' lamps, dynamite 
caps, and other items which do not constitute ``board, lodging, or other 
facilities'' may likewise be made in nonovertime workweeks if the 
employee nevertheless received the required minimum wage in cash free 
and clear; but to the extent that they reduce the wages of the employee 
in any such workweek below the minimum required by the Act, they are 
illegal.