Side Bar - Determining When Individual Employees Are Engaged in Interstate Commerce

The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has identified five categories of employees that it considers engaged in interstate commerce and therefore covered by the FLSA.

• Employees participating in the actual movement of commerce—for example, employees employed in the telephone, telegraph, television, transportation, banking, and insurance industries



• Employees doing work related to the instrumentalities of commerce—for example, employees who maintain and repair roads, bridges, or telephone lines; or employees who work at warehouses, airports, or bus stations



• Employees who regularly cross state lines in the performance of their duties—for example, traveling salespersons or traveling service technicians



• Employees who produce or work on goods for commerce—for example, assembly workers in an auto plant, coal miners, shipping department employees, or clerical and administrative workers who do the support work necessary to produce goods for commerce



• Employees who are employed in a closely related process or occupation essential to producing goods for commerce—for example, employees who build tool and die machines used by auto plants

As you can see, FLSA coverage is extremely broad.