Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 52.djvu/1101

 PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 676-JUNE 25, 1938 [CHAPTER 676] AN ACT [52 STAT. June 25, 1938 [S. 2475] To provide for the establishment of fair labor standards in employments in and [Public, No. 718] affecting interstate commerce, and for other purposes. Fair Labor Stand- ards Act of 1938. Finding and decla- ration of policy. Definitions. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938". FINDING AND DECLARATION OF POLICY SEC. 2. (a) The Congress hereby finds that the existence, in indus- tries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, of labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well- being of workers (1) causes commerce and the channels and instru- mentalities of commerce to be used to spread and perpetuate such labor conditions among the workers of the several States; (2) burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; (3) constitutes an unfair method of competition in commerce; (4) leads to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and (5) interferes with the orderly and fair marketing of goods in commerce. (b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act, through the exercise by Congress of its power to regulate commerce among the several States, to correct and as rapidly as practicable to eliminate the conditions above referred to in such industries without substantially curtailing employment or earning power. DEFINITIONS SEC. 3. As used in this Act- "Person." (a) "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, corpora- tion, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons. "Commerce." (b) "Commerce" means trade, commerce, transportation, transmis- sion, or communication among the several States or from any State to any place outside thereof. "State." (c) "State" means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. "Employer." (d) "Employer" includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee but shall not include the United States or any State or political subdivision of a State, or any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer), or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization. " Employee. " (e) "Employee" includes any individual employed by an employer. "Agriculture." (f) "Agriculture" includes farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricul- tural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as 12 U.t. c§il4(g). agricultural commodities in section 15 (g) of the Agricultural Mar- keting Act, as amended), the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lum- bering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including prepara- tion for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market. "Employ." (g) "Employ" includes to suffer or permit to work. "Industry." (h) "Industry" means a trade, business, industry, or branch thereof, or group of industries, in which individuals are gainfully employed. 1060

�