Fair Labor Standards Act
This page analyzes a single policy using structured scoring, historical evidence, source quality, and measurable outcomes.
Summary
Established minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor protections.
How to Read This Record
Impact Reading
Very high documented impact
Evidence Base
Strong evidence from Government, Archive sources.
Data Completeness
Complete record with 7 sources and 2 metrics.
Outcome Summary
Improved labor standards but excluded many Black workers in agriculture and domestic work.
Categories
Impact Scores
This score is a structured measure of how directly and materially this policy affected Black communities, weighted by evidence, durability, and equity. Harm offset reduces the total score.
Total Impact Score
27
Directness
3
How explicitly the policy targeted or affected Black communities.
Material Impact
4
The practical real-world effect on conditions, rights, or outcomes.
Evidence
5
Strength of sourcing and historical support for the assessment.
Durability
5
How lasting the effects of the policy were over time.
Equity
2
Whether the policy advanced fairness, inclusion, or equal access.
Harm Offset
1
Any offsetting harms, limitations, exclusions, or contradictory effects that reduce the total.
Metrics
Initial federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Covered workers • United States
Before
0.00
1937 • USD per hour
After
0.25
1938 • USD per hour
Methodology: Department of Labor history states that the original Fair Labor Standards Act established a federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour.
Initial maximum workweek under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Covered workers • United States
Before
N/A
N/A • hours per week
After
44.00
1938 • hours per week
Methodology: Department of Labor history states that the original Fair Labor Standards Act set a maximum workweek of 44 hours.
Related Promise Tracker
This policy is referenced in tracked presidential promises. Use these records to see how the policy fits into a broader promise, action, and outcome chain.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Establish a federal minimum wage and maximum-hours standardRoosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, creating a federal minimum wage and maximum-hours framework even though important exclusions limited the law's reach for many Black workers at the time.
Current Reform Connections
These future-bill concepts are connected to this policy through shared explainers, then linked forward to real tracked bills and current legislator scorecards.
Federal Reparations Direct Compensation Act
Economic Justice • Idea
Black Americans face a persistent racial wealth gap rooted in slavery, Jim Crow laws, and discriminatory federal policy, resulting in significantly lower median household wealth compared to white households.
Linked Legislator Scorecards
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12]
Cosponsor • House • D • NC
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Cosponsor • House • D • MA
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Cosponsor • House • D • DC
Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7]
Cosponsor • House • D • AL
Black Business Equity and Capital Access Act
Economic Justice • Idea
Black entrepreneurs face systemic barriers to capital access, resulting in lower business ownership rates and reduced economic mobility.
Linked Legislator Scorecards
Black Homeownership and Appraisal Fairness Act
Housing • Idea
Black households face persistent homeownership and appraisal disparities.
Linked Legislator Scorecards
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Primary Sponsor • House • D • MA
Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA]
Primary Sponsor • Senate • D • GA
Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD]
Cosponsor • Senate • D • MD
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Cosponsor • Senate • D • CT
Black Wealth Restoration and Baby Bonds Act
Economic Justice • Idea
The racial wealth gap continues to widen due to generational disparities in assets, inheritance, and access to capital.
Linked Legislator Scorecards
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Primary Sponsor • House • D • MA
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Cosponsor • House • D • DC
Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7]
Cosponsor • House • D • IN
Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]
Cosponsor • House • D • OH
HBCU Capital and Research Equity Act
Education • Idea
Many HBCUs remain underfunded compared with peer institutions and face infrastructure gaps.
Linked Legislator Scorecards
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12]
Cosponsor • House • D • NC
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Cosponsor • House • D • DC
Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7]
Cosponsor • House • D • AL
Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5]
Primary Sponsor • House • D • GA
HBCU Endowment and Tuition Reparations Act
Education • Idea
Historically Black Colleges and Universities remain underfunded due to decades of unequal state and federal support, limiting educational and economic mobility.
Linked Legislator Scorecards
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12]
Primary Sponsor • House • D • NC
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Cosponsor • House • D • DC
Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]
Cosponsor • House • D • TN
Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2]
Cosponsor • House • D • MS
Suggested Relationships
These policies may be related based on shared categories, era, and proximity in time.
1935 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement • Mixed
Shared Categories: 2 • Year Distance: 3
1935 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement • Mixed
Shared Categories: 2 • Year Distance: 3
1961 • Executive Order • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era • Positive
Shared Categories: 2 • Year Distance: 23
1965 • Executive Order • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era • Positive
Shared Categories: 2 • Year Distance: 27
1937 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement • Mixed
Shared Categories: 1 • Year Distance: 1
1941 • Executive Order • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement • Positive
Shared Categories: 1 • Year Distance: 3
1934 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement • Negative
Shared Categories: 1 • Year Distance: 4
1933 • Program • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement • Negative
Shared Categories: 1 • Year Distance: 5
Sources
FLSA
Unknown publisher • Government
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage
U.S. Department of Labor • Government
Department of Labor history page stating that the FLSA banned oppressive child labor and established a federal minimum wage and maximum workweek.
View sourceHistory of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law
U.S. Department of Labor • Government
Department of Labor history page documenting the original wage floor and later changes under the FLSA.
View sourceHistory
U.S. Department of Labor • Government
Wage and Hour Division history page noting that the division was created with enactment of the FLSA in 1938.
View sourceMessage to Congress on Establishing Minimum Wages and Maximum Hours
The American Presidency Project • Archive
Published: May 24, 1937
Promise Tracker batch 5 reduced FDR source import. Direct Roosevelt promise-level source for the FLSA-related record.
View sourceHistory of Federal Minimum Wage Rates Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 - 2009
U.S. Department of Labor • Government
Promise Tracker batch 5 reduced FDR source import. Outcome-level source for the lasting federal wage-floor effect of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
View sourceFrom Excluded to Essential: Tracing the Racist Exclusion of Farmworkers, Domestic Workers, and Tipped Workers from the Fair Labor Standards Act
U.S. House of Representatives • Government
Published: Feb 26, 2021
Promise Tracker batch 5 reduced FDR source import. Outcome-level source supporting the Mixed interpretation by documenting FLSA exclusions affecting agricultural and domestic workers.
View source