Evening star., 1940-07-14
Fleming Gives Plans
For Constant Wage
thinLaw'sLimits
Time orr Method
Or Prepayment Will
Offset Fluctuations

BY using either the "time off" or
the prepayment" method, en-
ployers may maintain a constant
wage" and still comply with the
requirements of the Fair Labor
Standards Act. Col. Philip B. Flem-
ing, administrator of the Wage and
Hour Division, announced yesterday.
Many employers have informed
the division 1t is undesirable to pay
workers in industries with sea-
sonal fluctuations big wage dur
ing peak weeks and then allow
this to dwindle to q few dollars in
the slack season.
Legislation was introduced in
Congress last year to permit several
constant wage plans to be written
into the act. Although Congress
failed to act, Administrator Fleming
pointed out that there are two
methods, under the law, which can
be used to maintain a more or
less constant wage.
Under the Fair Labor Standards
Act employees whose work involves
the production of goods moving in
interstate commerce must be paid
a minimum wage of 80 cents an
hour, with compensation at one
and a half their regular rate OF
pay for all hours worked in ex-
cess OF AZ in any single week. Aver
aging Of hours from one week to
another is not permissible: a single
week remains the yardstick for call
culating compensation due. Nor
can pay for overtime be withheld
by the employer past the pay day
covering the work week, or work
weeks, in which the overtime was
earned.
Time OFF" Plan Outlined.
"Still observing these provisions,
1t is possible in many cases for an
employer to give his workers the
benefit of constant wages" Col.
Fleming said. "One method that
would come within the present law
may be called the time off plan.
The second method calls for pre-
payment of overtime wages"
Using the time off method, an
employer may so control working
hours in his plant that even with
overtime compensation figured at
the time-and-a-haf rate, pay
checks will not exceed a stated
amount For example, where an
employer wishes to set an employees
pay at $42 limit for a two-week
period and that same employe puts
in overtime in the first week enough
to make that weeks pay total more
than s2l. the employer may cut
the second weeks working hours
enough to keep the employees wage
for the whole period at $42.
Prepayment Solves Problem.
This does not mean, of course,
that an employe cannot work as
much overtime as may be required.
There is nothing in any part of the
wage and hour law prohibiting
overtime or setting any arbitrary
limit on hours that may legally be
worked so long as the required time
and-a-half is paid" The time of
plan can only be used with BIZ
weekly. semimonthly or monthly
pay periods
Under the prepayment system
the employe is paid a little more
each payday than he actually has
earned" Col. Fleming said. "The
advance payments build up a re-
serve of overtime due For in.
stance. the employees regular hourly
rate may total but $3.50 for an
average weeks work. The employ
er, however. pays him s21. or $1.50
more than required. Perhaps the
employe will work for three weeks
on this basis, thus actually re-
ceiving an advance of $3.50 on work
not yet performed. And then comes
a rush job and the extra hours that
the employe must work are charged
off at time-and-a-half the regular
rate, against the $3.50"