Labor Department - Employment Standards Administration

The Employment Standards Administration administers MINIMUM WAGE and overtime standards through its Wage and Hour Division. This division seeks to protect low-wage incomes as provided by the minimum wage provisions of the FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT (29 U.S.C.A. § 201), and to discourage excessively long hours of work through the enforcement of the overtime provisions of the act. The division also determines the prevailing wage rates for federal construction contracts and federally assisted programs for construction, alteration, and repair of public works subject to the DAVIS-BACON ACT (40 U.S.C.A. § 276a) and related acts.