Source: https://m.openjurist.org/344/us/218
Timestamp: 2020-01-26 22:08:37
Document Index: 715272397

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6', '§ 11', '§ 6', '§ 11', '§ 206', '§ 206', '§ 215', '§ 215', '§ 27', '§ 27', '§ 23', '§ 16']

344 U.S. 218 - United States v. Universal Cit Credit Corp
344 US 218 United States v. Universal Cit Credit Corp
UNIVERSAL C.I.T. CREDIT CORP. et al.
When originally introduced in Congress, the bill out of which the Fair Labor Standards Act evolved had two separate penalty provisions, one for underpayments in violation of §§ 6 or 7 and one for failure to comply with the record-keeping provisions of § 11.5 Each provision set the maximum fine at $500 and explicitly defined what constituted a separate offense. As to §§ 6 and 7 the employee was the unit of criminal offense and as to § 11 each week of violation was a separate offense.6 After the measure would its way through a long legislative process there resulted consolidation of the two penalty provisions, elimination of the separate offense clauses, and substitution of $10,000 for $500 as the maximum fine. These rather striking changes would in themselves afford justifiable ground for giving the less harsh and therefore more reasonable construction to the offense-creating portions of the legislation. In addition, we have illuminating statements in both houses concerning the separation of offenses. Although the separate offense clause for record-keeping violations was deleted early in the legislative process, the other separate offense clause was attacked in debate precisely because it would authorize the sort of multiplication of offenses by the number of employees that the information before us represents.7 Indeed multiplication in this information goes beyond what even the original bills would have authorized. Underpayments of the same employees are split into separate counts of the information, and record-keeping violations during the same week are split to serve as the basis of separate counts.
I think the question whether an employer has violated the criminal provisions of the Act is determined by reference to what he has done to a particular employee. The Act does not speak of 'course of conduct.' That is the Court's terminology, not the Act's. The Act requires the employer to pay 'each of his employees' not less than 75 cents an hour, prohibits him from employing 'any of his employees' for more than 40 hours a week unless overtime is paid, and requires him to keep records of 'the persons employed by him' and the wages, hours, etc. 29 U.S.C. §§ 206, 207, 211(c), as amended, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 206, 207, 211(c). And the Act makes it unlawful for an employer to violate 'any of the provisions' of those sections. 29 U.S.C. §§ 215, 216(a), 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 215, 216(a).
See 81 Cong.Rec. 7792; 81 Cong.Rec. 9507; 82 Cong.Rec. 1828. Force is added to these statements by the fact that one was made by a member of the House who proposed the amendment which was adopted, by vote on division, specifically to delete the separate offense clause of § 27(a) (then 22(a)). 82 Cong.Rec. 1828—1839. The bill thus came to the Conference from the House with both separate offense clauses deleted, but from the Senate with only the clause of § 27(b) deleted. Both versions still provided a maximum fine of $500. The Conference accepted the House version, with neither separate offense clause, but raised the maximum fine to $10,000. See S. 2475, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., §§ 23(a), 23(b), as reported from Committee, July 8, 1937; 81 Cong.Rec. 7957; H.R.Rep.No.2182, 75th Cong., 3d Sess. 5; 83 Cong.Rec. 7450; Conference Report, § 16(a), 83 Cong.Rec. 9249.