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May 24, 1937: The
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1937 was introduced in the Senate as S. 2475, and in the
House of Represntatives as H. R 7200
As introduced, the bill did not include an exemption for executive, administrtive, and professional employees. Instead, in Section 2 - "Definitions" - it was specified that "(7) "Employee" includes any individual employed and any individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute or because of any unlawful discharge, and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equivalent employment, but shall not include any person employed in an executive, administrative, supervisory, or professional capacity or as an agricultural laborer as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of the Board." (NOTE: Underline added) (See page 4 of S. 2475 and H. R 7200).
June 14, 1938: The
House of Representatives approved the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by a
vote of 291 to 89, [CR, Volume 83, Part 8,
page 9266], and the Senate approved the bill on a voice vote. [CR, Volume 83, Part 8,
page 9266]
The language of the exemption read: "Sec. 13. (a) The provisions of sections 6 and 7 shall not apply with respect to (1) any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, professional, or local retailing capacity, or in the capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of the Administrator);" (NOTE: Underline added)
July 29, 1937:
Senator Sytles Bridge (R-NH), introduced an amendment that included the
langauge SEC. 6. (a) This act shall not apply to agricultural
laborers as defined by the Department of Agriculture, nor to executive,
administrative, and professional employees.
[See Congressional
Record, Volume 81, Part
7, page 7791] [NOTE: Underlining added.]
July 31, 1937:
Senator Francis Maloney (D-CT), offered an amendment which provided that
officers, executives, and superintendents, and their personal and immediate
clerical assistants
were exempt from the minimum wage and maximum hours
provisions. [See Congressional Record, Volume 81, Part 7, page
7802]
July 31, 1937: The
Senate aproved the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1937 by a vote of 56 to 28.
[See CR 75, Volume
81, Part 7, page 7957]
December 14, 1937:
Representative Mary Norton (D-NJ), introduced an amendment that included the
language SEC. 2. (7) 'Employee' includes any individual employed or
suffered or permitted to work by an employer, but shall not include any
person employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, professional, or
local retailing capacity, or any person employed in the capacity of
outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of the
Administrator).
[See Congressional Record, Volume 82, Part 2,
page 1511] [NOTE: Underlining added.]
Late January, 1938:
"Reworking the bill: In the meantime, Department of Labor lawyers worked on a
new bill. Privately, Roosevelt had told Perkins that the length and complexity
of the bill caused some of its difficulties. "Can't it be boiled down to two
pages?" he asked. Lawyers trying to simplify the bill faced the problem that,
although legal language makes legislation difficult to understand, bills
written in simple English are often difficult for the courts to enforce. And
because the wage-hour, child-labor bill had been drafted with the Supreme Court
in mind, Solicitor of Labor Gerard Reilly could not meet the President's
two-page goal; however, he succeeded in cutting the bill from 40 to 10 pages.
In late January 1938, Reilly and Perkins brought the revision to President
Roosevelt. He approved it, and the new bill went to Congress.34"
(FOOTNOTE 34: The Roosevelt I knew, by Frances Perkins. New York : Penguin
Books, 2011. Page 261.)
(Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage, By Jonathan Grossman.)
The AF of L finally stated the form of a bill it would stand
for. Congressman Griswold of Indiana drafted a bill which was
said to have originated in the AF of L Council. This simply established a forty-hour work-week and a forty-cent minimum
wage in all industries. It omitted provisions for administrative
investigation. The only method of enforcement was a section
which made violations a criminal offense and left action to the
courts.
]
(The Roosevelt I knew, Frances Perkins ; introduction by Adam Cohen. New York : Penguin Books, 2011. Page 250. )
March 1, 1938:
On March 1, 1938, Mrs. Norton appointed a subcommittee
of the House Labor Committee, composed of seven members,
with Representative Robert Ramspeck of Georgia as chairman.
Numerous people conferred with him, and he made heroic
efforts to formulate a practical piece of legislation. Some modifications were made in the abbreviated draft which the President
had approved. This draft contemplated the establishment of
wage boards empowered to fix wages and hours so that gradually
an ultimate goal of forty cents an hour and a forty-hour week
could be reached. It contained provisions for studies of particular
industries with opportunities for hearing and appeal. It seemed
to me that the bill contained the bare essentials the administration could support.
(The Roosevelt I knew, Frances Perkins ; introduction by Adam Cohen. New York : Penguin Books, 2011. Page 250. )
This proposal, however, was opposed by the AF of L. The National Association of Manufaturers also opposed the bill, and for the first time in years Congress was treated to the spectacle of the AF of L and the NAM fighting cordially on the same side. The CIO came out in favor of the Ramspeck bill, but its support tended to alienate Southern Democrats, as they were afraid of further CIO organizing campaigns in the South. A canvass of the House reveled that there were not enough votes to carry the Ramspeck bill.
(The Roosevelt I knew, Frances Perkins ; introduction by Adam Cohen. New York : Penguin Books, 2011. Pages 250-251. )
April 21, 1938:
Representtive Norton reported to the House of Representatives that
"…your Committee on Labor has favorably reported Senate 2475, with an
amendment. The bill and report will be available in the document room tomorrow
morning for the Members who care to see them." [CR75 Vol. 83, Part 5,
page 5676]
"Norton appointed
Representative Robert Ramspeck of Georgia to head a subcommittee to bridge the
gap between various proposals. The subcommittee's efforts resulted in the
Ramspeck compromise which Perkins felt "contained the bare essentials she could
support.35" (FOOTNOTE 35: The Public Papers and Addresses of
Franklin D. Roosevelt, VII (Aug. 16, 1938), pp.
488-89; Perkins, Roosevelt, pp. 262-63.)
May 24, 1938: The
rewritten bill still did not include an exemption from minimum wage and maximum
hours for executive, administrative, and professional employees. Instead, it
specified in Section 2 - "Definitions" - that "(7) "Employee" includes
any individual employed or suffered or permitted to work by an employer, but
shall not include any person employed in a bona fide executive,
administrative, professional, or local retailing capacity as outside
salesman (as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of the
Board)…" (NOTE: Underline added) [CR 75, Volume 83, Part
7, page 7374]
May 24, 1938: The
House of Representatives debated an amended version of S. 2475 which included
the following language under Definitions, Section 2(a)(7) "Employee
includes any individual employed or suffered or permitted to work by an
employer, but shall not include any person employed in a bona fide
executive, administrative, professional, or local retailing capacity as
outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delimited by regulations of
the Board)" (NOTE: Underlining added.) [CR 75,Volume 83, Part 7,
page 7374]
Mrs. Norton decided to present a bill along the lines of the one offered by the AF of L. Her bill set an absolute floor to wages with virtually no procedure for investigation or adjustment of the needs of particular industries. It provided that pay for the first year would be not less than twenty-five cents an hour, with an increase of five cents an hour every year thereafter until a rate of forty cents an hour was reached. It set a maximum work-week of forty-four hours for the first year, with a reduction of two hours each subsequent year until a forty-hour work-week was achieved. This bill was reported favorably by a vote of 14 to 4, while the recommendations of the Ramspeck subcommittee were rejected, 10 to 8. It was reported to the House on April 21. The Rules Committee, by a vote of 8 to 6, again refused to report a resolution enabling the House to consider the measure. This again necessitated resort to a discharge petition
June 13, 1938: When
the House of Representatives approved the Fair Labor Standards Act by a vote of
291 to 89, it included "Sec. 13. (a) The provisions of sections 6 and 7
shall not apply with respect to (1) any employee employed in a bona fide
executive, administrative, professional, or local retailing
capacity, or in the capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are
defined and delimited by regulations of the Administrator);" (NOTE:
Underlining added.) [Volume 83, Part
7, page 7374]
June 25, 1938:
President Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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The Fair Labor Standards Act: A Historical Sketch of the Overtime Pay Requirements of Section 13(a)(1). By William G. Whittaker, Specialist in Labor Economics. Domestic Social Policy Division, Congressional Research Service. RL32088. August 28, 2007. This report is available through the Congressional Research Service site at: "Search CRSReports" at https://crsreports.congress.gov/.
The Fair Labor Standards Act: Exemption of “Executive, Administrative and Professional” Employees Under Section 13(a)(1), July 17, 2003. RL31995. This report is available through the Congressional Research Service site at: "Search CRS Reports" at https://crsreports.congress.gov/.