29 C.F.R. § 776.18 Employees of producers for commerce.
Title 29 - Labor
(a) Covered employments illustrated. Some illustrative examples of the employees employed by a producer of goods for interstate or foreign commerce who are or are not engaged in the “production” of such goods within the meaning of the Act have already been given. Among the other employees of such a producer, doing work in connection with his production of goods for commerce, who are covered because their work, if not actually a part of such production, is “closely related” and “directly essential” to it,86 86 See H. Mgrs. St., 1949, p. 14; Sen. St., 1949 Cong. Rec., p. 15372. See also Borden Co. v. Borella, 325 U.S. 679. 87 No distinction of economic or statutory significance can be drawn between such work in a building where the production of goods is carried on physically and in one where such production is administered, managed, and controlled. Borden Co. v. Borella, 324 U.S. 679. 88 Such mechanics and laborers as machinists, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, plasters, glaziers, painters, metal workers, bricklayers, hod carriers, roofers, stationary engineers, their apprentices and helpers, elevator starters and operators, messengers, janitors, charwomen, porters, handy men, and other maintenance workers would come within this category. (b) Employments not directly essential to production distinguished. Employees of a producer of goods for commerce are not covered as engaged in such production if they are employed solely in connection with essentially local activities which are undertaken by the employer independently of his productive operations or at most as a dispensable, collateral incident to them and not with a view to any direct function which the activities serve in production. It is clear, for example, that an employee would not be covered merely because he works as a domestic servant in the home of an employer whose factory produces goods for commerce, even though he is carried on the factory payroll. To illustrate further, a producer may engage in essentially local activities as a landlord, restauranteur, or merchant in order to utilize the opportunity for separate and additional profit from such ventures or to provide a convenient means of meeting personal needs of his employees. Employees exclusively employed in such activities of the producer are not engaged in work “closely related” and “directly essential” to his production of goods for commerce merely because they provide residential, eating, or other living facilities for his employees who are engaged in the production of such goods.89 89 H. Mgrs. St., 1949, pp. 14, 15; see also Brogan v. National Surety Co., 246 U.S. 257. Cf. Sen. St., 1949 Cong. Rec., p. 15372. 90 See Brogan v. National Surety Co., 246 U.S. 257; Consolidated Timber Co. v. Womack, 132 F. 2d 101 (C.A. 9); Hanson v. Lagerstrom, 133 F. 2d 120 (C.A. 8); cf. H. Mgrs. St., 1949, pp. 14, 15 and Sen. St., 1949 Cong. Rec., p. 15372. Some specific examples of the application of these principles may be helpful. Such services as watching, guarding, maintaining or repairing the buildings, facilities, and equipment used in the production of goods for commerce are “directly essential” as well as “closely related” to such production as it is carried on in modern industry.91 91 H. Mgrs. St., 1949, p. 14; Sen. St., 1949 Cong. Rec., p. 15372; Kirschbaum v. Walling, 316 U.S. 517; Borden Co. v. Borella, 325 U.S. 679; Walton v. Southern Package Corp. 320 U.S. 540; Armour & Co. v. Wantock, 325 U.S. 126. 92 H. Mgrs. St., 1949, pp. 14, 15; Morris v. Beaumont Mfg. Co., 84 F. Supp. 909 (W.D. S.C.); cf. Wilson v. Reconstruction Finance Corp., 158 F. 2d 564 (C.A. 5), certiorari denied, 331 U.S. 810. Cf. Brogan v. National Surety Co., 246 U.S. 257; Consolidated Timber Co. v. Womack, 132 F. 2d 101 (C.A. 9); Hanson v. Lagerstrom, 133 F. 2d 120 (C.A. 8). 93 Cf. H. Mgrs. St., 1949, pp. 14, 15.
Title 29: Labor
PART 776—INTERPRETATIVE BULLETIN ON THE GENERAL COVERAGE OF THE WAGE AND HOURS PROVISIONS OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938
Subpart A—General
Engaging in “The Production of Goods for Commerce”
§ 776.18 Employees of producers for commerce.