Maryland v. Wirtz

As originally enacted,1 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 required every employer to pay each of his employees “engaged in commerce or in the production *186of goods for commerce” 2 a certain minimum hourly wage, and to pay at a higher rate for work in excess of a certain maximum number of hours per week. The Act defined the term “employer” so as to exclude “the United States or any State or political subdivision of a State . ...”3 This case involves the constitutionality of two sets of amendments to the original enactment.

In 1961, Congress changed the basis of employee coverage: instead of…