It also applies to employees of smaller firms if the employees are engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. Also covered are employees of federal, state, or local government agencies, hospitals, and schools. The law generally applies to domestic workers. The FLSA contains a number of exemptions from the minimum wage that may apply to some workers. Certain full-time students, student learners, apprentices, and workers with disabilities may be paid less than the minimum wage under special certificates issued by the Department of Labor.
States can set a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage.
Most industrialized countries have laws setting a minimum wage, but these laws vary greatly by who is covered and how strictly the law is enforced. In some countries, the minimum wage is not universal for the whole country, but varies according to the industrial sector or the worker's age and gender. Bernstein, Jared, Heidi Hartmann and John Schmitt. A Working Women's Issue . Bernstein, Jared and Brocht, Chauna.