U.S. Department of Labor
Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor
Enterprise Coverage Federal, State, or Local Government Agencies – Public Agencies
This category of enterprise is, in most cases, easy to identify. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines "public agency" to mean the government of the United States; the government of a state or political subdivision of the state; any agency of the United States (including the United States Postal Service and Postal Rate Commission), a state, or a political subdivision of a state; or any interstate governmental agency. In general, the term "political subdivision" includes counties, townships, cities, towns, villages, school districts, drainage districts, etc.
Any community action agency which is an entity of a state, a political subdivision of a state, or a combination of public agencies is clearly a public agency covered by the FLSA. However, a private, non-profit community action agency does not become a public agency for FLSA coverage purposes simply because it provides services under contract with a state or political subdivision of a state. This doesn’t, of course, preclude coverage of such private community action agency under another provision of the FLSA. (Note that a private community action agency does not become a public agency merely because it receives and disburses Federal funds.)
Do you work for a Federal, state or local government agency?
