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[Public — No. 718— 75 th C ongress] [Chapter 676— 3 d S ession] [S. 2475] AN ACT To provide for the establishment of fair labor standards in employments in and affecting interstate commerce, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938'’. FINDING AND DECLARATION OF POLICY S ec . 2. (a) The Congress hereby finds that the existence, in indus tries engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, o f labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standard o f living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well being of workers (1) causes commerce and the channels and instru mentalities o f commerce to be used to spread and perpetuate such labor conditions among the workers of the several States; (2) burdens commerce and the free flow o f goods in commerce; (3) constitutes an unfair method of competition in commerce; (4) leads to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and (5) interferes with the orderly and fair marketing of goods in commerce. (b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act, through the exercise by Congress of its power to regulate commerce among the several States, to correct and as rapidly as practicable to eliminate the conditions above referred to in such industries without substantially curtailing employment or earning power. DEFINITIONS S ec. 3. As used in this Act— (a) “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, corpora tion, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons. (b) “ Commerce” means trade, commerce, transportation, transmis sion, or communication among the several States or from any State to any place outside thereof. (c) “ State” means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. (d) “ Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee but shall not include the United States or any State or political subdivision of a State, or any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer), or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization. (e) “ Employee” includes any individual employed by an employer. ( f ) “Agriculture” includes farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, 2 [P ub . 718.] the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricul tural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as agricultural commodities in section 15 (g) of the Agricultural Mar keting Act, as amended), the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lum bering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including prepara tion for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market. (g) “ Employ” includes to suffer or permit to work. (h) “Industry” means a trade, business, industry, or branch thereof, or group of industries, in which individuals are gainfully employed. (!) “ Goods” means goods (including ships and marine equipment), wares, products, commodities, merchandise, or articles or subjects oi commerce of any character, or any part or ingredient thereof, but does not include goods after their delivery into the actual physical posses sion of the ultimate consumer thereof other than a producer, manufac turer, or processor thereof. (j) “ Produced” means produced, manufactured, mined, handled, or in any other manner worked on in any State; and for the purposes of this Act an employee shall be deemed to have been engaged in the production of goods if such employee was employed in producing, manufacturing, mining, handling, transporting, or in any other man ner working on such goods, or in any process or occupation necessary to the production thereof, in any State. (k) “ Sale” or “ sell” includes any sale, exchange, contract to sell, consignment for sale, shipment for sale, or other disposition. (l) “ Oppressive child labor” means a condition of employment under which (1) any employee under the age o f sixteen years is employed by an employer (other than a parent or a person standing in place of a parent employing his own child or a child in his custody under the age of sixteen years in an occupation other than manufac turing or mining) in any occupation, or (2) any employee between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years is employed by an employer in any occupation which the Chief of the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Labor shall find and by order declare to be particularly hazardous for the employment of children between such ages or detri mental to their health or well-being; but oppressive child labor shall not be deemed to exist by virtue of the employment in any occupation of any person with respect to whom the employer shall have on file an unexpired certificate issued and held pursuant to regulations of the Chief of the Children’s Bureau certifying that such person is above the oppressive child-labor age. The Chief of the Children’s Bureau shall provide by regulation or by order that the employment o f employees between the ages o f fourteen and sixteen years in occupa tions other than manufacturing and mining shall not be deemed to constitute oppressive child labor if and to the extent that the Chief o f the Children’s Bureau determines that such employment is confined to periods which will not interfere with their schooling and to conditions which will not interfere with their health and well-being. (m) “Wage” paid to any employee includes the reasonable cost, as determined by the Administrator, to the employer of furnishing such employee with board, lodging, or other facilities, if such board, lodg [ P u b . 718.] 3 ing, or other facilities are customarily furnished by such employer to his employees. ADMINISTRATOR S ec. 4. (a) There is hereby created in the Department of Labor a Wage and Hour Division which shall be under the direction of an Administrator, to be known as the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (in this Act referred to as the “Administrator” ) . The Administrator shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive compensation at the rate of $10,000 a year. (b) The Administrator may, subject to the civil-service laws, appoint such employees as he deems necessary to carry out his func tions and duties under this Act and shall fix their compensation in accordance with the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The Administrator may establish and utilize such regional, local, or other agencies, and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services, as may from time to time be needed. Attorneys appointed under this section may appear for and represent the Administrator in any litiga tion, but all such litigation shall be subject to the direction and control o f the Attorney General. In the appointment, selection, classification, and promotion of officers and employees of the Administrator, no political test or qualification shall be permitted or given consideration, but all such appointments and promotions shall be given and made on the basis of merit and efficiency. (c) The principal office of the Administrator shall be in the District o f Columbia, but he or his duly authorized representative may exercise any or all of his powers in any place. (d) The Administrator shall submit annually in January a report to the Congress covering his activities for the preceding year and including such information, data, and recommendations for further legislation in connection with the matters covered by this Act as he may find advisable. INDUSTRY COMMITTEES S ec. 5. (a) The Administrator shall as soon as practicable appoint an industry committee for each industry engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. (b) An industry committee shall be appointed by the Administrator without regard to any other provisions of law regarding the appoint ment and compensation of employees of the United States. It shall include a number of disinterested persons representing the public, one of whom the Administrator shall designate as chairman, a like number of persons representing employees in the industry, and a like number representing employers in the industry. In the appointment o f the persons representing each group, the Administrator shall give due regard to the geographical regions in which the industry is carried on. (c) Two-thirds of the members of an industry committee shall con stitute a quorum, and the decision of the committee shall require a vote o f not less than a majority of all its members. Members o f an industry committee shall receive as compensation for their services a reasonable per diem, which the Administrator shall by rules and regulations prescribe, for each day actually spent in the work of the committee, 4 [Pub. 718.] and sliall in addition be reimbursed for their necessary traveling and other expenses. The Administrator shall furnish the committee with adequate legal, stenographic, clerical, and other assistance, and shall by rules and regulations prescribe the procedure to be followed by the committee. (d) The Administrator shall submit to an industry committee from time to time such data as he may have available on the matters referred to it, and shall cause to be brought before it in connection with such matters any witnesses whom he deems material. An industry com mittee may summon other witnesses or call upon the Administrator to furnish additional information to aid it in its deliberations. M IN IM U M WAGES S ec. 6. (a) Every employer shall pay to each o f his employees who is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce wages at the follow ing rates— (1) during the first year from the effective date of this section, not less than 25 cents an hour, (2) during the next six years from such date, not less than 30 cents an hour, (3) after the expiration of seven years from such date, not less than 40 cents an hour, or the rate (not less than 30 cents an hour) prescribed in the applicable order of the Administrator issued under section 8, whichever is lower, and (4) at any time after the effective date of this section, not less than the rate (not in excess of 40 cents an hour) prescribed in the applicable order of the Administrator issued under section 8. (b) This section shall take effect upon the expiration of one hun dred and twenty days from the date of enactment of this Act. M A X IM U M HOURS S ec. 7. (a) No employer shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, employ any of his employees who is engaged in com merce or in the production o f goods for commerce— (1) for a workweek longer than forty-four hours during the first year from the effective date of this section, (2) for a workweek longer than forty-two hours during the second year from such date, or (3) for a workweek longer than forty hours after the expira tion of the second year from such date, unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed. (b) No employer shall be deemed to have violated subsection (a) by employing any employee for a workweek in excess of that specified in such subsection without paying the compensation for overtime employment prescribed therein if such employee is so employed— (1) in pursuance of an agreement, made as a result of col lective bargaining by representatives of employees certified as bona fide by the National Labor Relations Board, which provides that no employee shall be employed more than one thousand hours during any period of twenty-six consecutive weeks, (2) on an annual basis in pursuance o f an agreement with his employer, made as a result o f collective bargaining by Tepre- IPub. 718.] 5 sentatives o f employees certified as bona fide by tbe National Labor Relations Board, which provides that the employee shall not be employed more than two thousand hours during any period of fifty-two consecutive weeks, or (3) for a period or periods of not more than fourteen work weeks in the aggregate in any calendar year in an industry found by the Administrator to be of a seasonal nature, and if such employee receives compensation for employment in excess of 12 hours in any workday, or for employment in excess of 56 hours in any workweek, as the case may be, at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed. (c) In the case of an employer engaged in the first processing o f milk, whey, skimmed milk, or cream into dairy products, or in the ginning and compressing of cotton, or in the processing of cotton seed, or in the processing of sugar beets, sugar beet molasses, sugar cane, or maple sap, into sugar (hut not refined sugar) or into syrup, the provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to his employees in any place of employment where he is so engaged; and in the case o f an employer engaged in the first processing of, or in canning or packing, perishable or seasonal fresh fruits or vegetables, or in the first processing, within the area of production (as defined by the Administrator), of any agricultural or horticultural commodity dur ing seasonal operations, or in handling, slaughtering, or dressing poultry or livestock, the provisions o f subsection (a ), during a period or periods of not more than fourteen workweeks in the aggregate in any calendar year, shall not apply to his employees in any place of employment where he is so engaged. (d) This section shall take effect upon the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from the date of enactment of this Act. WAGE ORDERS S ec. 8. (a) With a view to carrying out the policy of this Act by reaching, as rapidly as is economically feasible without substantially curtailing employment, the objective of a universal minimum wage o f 40 cents an hour in each industry engaged in commerce or in the production o f goods for commerce, the Administrator shall from time to time convene the industry committee for each such industry, and the industry committee shall from time to time recommend the minimum rate or rates of wages to be paid under section 6 by employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce in such industry or classifications therein. (b) Upon the convening of an industry committee, the Adminis trator shall refer to it the question of the minimum wage rate or rates to be fixed for such industry. The industry committee shall investigate conditions in the industry and the committee, or any authorized subcommittee thereof, may hear such witnesses and receive such evidence as may be necessary or appropriate to enable the com mittee to perform its duties and functions under this Act. The committee shall recommend to the Administrator the highest mini mum wage rates for the industry which it determines, having due regard to economic and competitive conditions, will not substantially curtail employment in the industry. 6 [ P u b . 718.] (c) The industry committee for any industry shall recommend such reasonable classifications within any industry as it determines to be necessary for the purpose of fixing for each classification within such industry the highest minimum wage rate (not in excess of 40 cents an hour) which (1) will not substantially curtail employment in such classification and (2) will not give a competitive advantage to any group in the industry, and shall recommend for each classifi cation in the industry the highest minimum wage rate which the committee determines will not substantially curtail employment in such classification. In determining whether such classifications should be made in any industry, in making such classifications, and in deter mining the minimum wage rates for such classifications, no classifica tion shall be made, and no minimum wage rate shall be fixed, solely on a regional basis, but the industry committee and the Administrator shall consider among other relevant factors the following: (1) competitive conditions as affected by transportation, liv ing, and production costs; (2) the wages established for work of like or comparable character by collective labor agreements negotiated between employers and employees by representatives of their own choos ing; and (3) the wages paid for work of like or comparable character by employers who voluntarily maintain minimum-wage stand ards in the industry. No classification shall be made under this section on the basis of age or sex. (d) The industry committee shall file with the Administrator a report containing its recommendations with respect to the matters referred to it. Upon the filing of such report, the Administrator, after due notice to interested persons, and giving them an opportunity to be heard, shall by order approve and carry into effect the recom mendations contained in such report, if he finds that the recommenda tions are made in accordance with law, are supported by the evidence adduced at the hearing, and, taking into consideration the same factors as are required to be considered by the industry committee, will carry out the purposes of this section; otherwise he shall disapprove such recommendations. I f the Administrator disapproves such recom mendations, he shall again refer the matter to such committee, or to another industry committee for such industry (which he may appoint for such purpose), for further consideration and recommendations. (e) No order issued under this section with respect to any industry prior to the expiration of seven years from the effective date of section 6 shall remain in effect after such expiration, and no order shall be issued under this section with respect to any industry on or after such expiration, unless the industry committee by a preponderance of the evidence before it recommends, and the Administrator by a preponder ance of the evidence adduced at the hearing finds, that the continued effectiveness or the issuance o f the order, as the case may be, is neces sary in order to prevent substantial curtailment of employment in the industry. (f) Orders issued under this section shall define the industries and classifications therein to which they are to apply, and shall contain such terms and conditions as the Administrator finds necessary to [ P u b . 718.] 7 carry out the purposes o f such orders, to prevent the circumvention or evasion thereof, and to safeguard the minimum wage rates established therein. No such order shall take effect until after due notice is given of the issuance thereof by publication in the Federal Register and by such other means as the Administrator deems reasonably calculated to give to interested persons general notice of such issuance. (g) Due notice o f any hearing provided for in this section shall be given by publication in the Federal Register and by such other means as the Administrator deems reasonably calculated to give general notice to interested persons. ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES S ec . 9. For the purpose of any hearing or investigation provided for in this Act, the provisions of sections 9 and 10 (relating to the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents) o f the Federal Trade Commission Act of September 16, 1914, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 15, secs. 49 and 50), are hereby made applicable to the jurisdiction, powers, and duties of the Administrator, the Chief o f the Children’s Bureau, and the industry committees. c o u r t r e v ie w S ec . 10. (a) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Administrator issued under section 8 may obtain a review of such order in the circuit court of appeals of the United States for any circuit wherein such person resides or has his principal place o f business, or in the United States Court of Appeals for the District o f Columbia, by filing in such court, within sixty days after the entry of such order, a written petition praying that the order of the Administrator be modified or set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such petition shall forthwith be served upon the Administrator, and thereupon the Administrator shall certify and file in the court a transcript of the record upon which the order complained of was entered. Upon the filing of such tran script such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm, modify, or set aside such order in whole or in part, so far as it is applicable to the petitioner. The review by the court shall be limited to questions of law, and findings o f fact by the Administrator when supported by substantial evidence shall be conclusive. No objection to the order of the Administrator shall be considered by the court unless such objection shall have been urged before the Administrator or unless there were reasonable grounds for failure so to do. I f application i9 made to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence, and it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that such additional evidence may materially affect the result of the proceeding and that there were reasonable grounds for failure to adduce such evidence in the proceed ing before the Administrator, the court may order such additional evidence to be taken before the Administrator and to be adduced upon the hearing in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as to the court may seem proper. The Administrator may modify his findings by reason o f the additional evidence so taken, and shall file with the court such modified or new findings which if supported by substantial evidence shall be conclusive, and shall also file his recom mendation, if any, for the modification or setting aside o f the original 8 [ P u b . 718.] order. The judgment and decree of the court shall be final, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in sections 239 and 240 of the Judicial Code, as amended (U. S. C., title 28, secs. 346 and 347). (b) The commencement of proceedings under subsection (a) shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Administrator’s order. The court shall not grant any stay of the order unless the person complaining of such order shall file in court an undertaking with a surety or sureties satisfactory to the court for the payment to the employees affected by the order, in the event such order is affirmed, of the amount by which the compensation such employees are entitled to receive under the order exceeds the com pensation they actually receive while such stay is in effect. INVESTIGATIONS, INSPECTIONS, AND RECORDS S ec. 11. (a) The Administrator or his designated representatives may investigate and gather data regarding the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment in any industry sub ject to this Act, and may enter and inspect such places and such records (and make such transcriptions thereof), question such employees, and investigate such facts, conditions, practices, or mat ters as he may deem necessary or appropriate to determine whether any person has violated any provision of this Act, or which may aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this Act. Except as provided in section 12 and in subsection (b) o f this section, the Administrator shall utilize the bureaus and divisions of the Depart ment of Labor for all the investigations and inspections necessary under this section. Except as provided in section 12, the Admin istrator shall bring all actions under section 17 to restrain violations of this Act. (b) With the consent and cooperation of State agencies charged with the administration of State labor laws, the Administrator and the Chief of the Children’s Bureau may, for the purpose of carry ing out their respective functions and duties under this Act, utilize the services of State and local agencies and their employees and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, may reimburse such State and local agencies and their employees for services rendered for such purposes. (c) Every employer subject to any provision of this Act or of any order issued under this Act shall make, keep, and preserve such records of the persons employed by him and of the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment maintained by him, and shall preserve such records for such periods of time, and shall make such reports therefrom to the Administrator as he shall pre scribe by regulation or order as necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of the provisions of this Act or the regulations or orders thereunder. CHILD LABOR PROVISIONS S ec . 12. (a) x^fter the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from the date of enactment of this Act, no producer, manufacturer, or dealer shall ship or deliver for shipment in commerce any goods produced in an establishment situated in the United States m or about which within thirty days prior to the removal of such goods therefrom any oppressive child labor has been employed: Provided, [P u b . 718.] 9 That a prosecution and conviction of a defendant for the shipment or delivery for shipment of any goods under the conditions herein prohibited shall be a bar to any further prosecution against the same defendant for shipments or deliveries for shipment of any such goods before the beginning o f said prosecution. (b) The Chief of the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Labor, or any of his authorized representatives, shall make all inves tigations and inspections under section 11 (a) with respect to the employment of minors, and, subject to the direction and control of the Attorney General, shall bring all actions under section 17 to enjoin any act or practice which is unlawful by reason of the exist ence of oppressive child labor, and shall administer all other provi sions of this Act relating to oppressive child labor. EXEMPTIONS S ec. 13. (a) The provisions of sections 6 and 7 shall not apply with respect to (1) any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, professional, or local retailing capacity, or in the capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delim ited by regulations of the Administrator); or (2) any employee engaged in any retail or service establishment the greater part of whose selling or servicing is in intrastate commerce; or (3) any employee employed as a seaman; or (4) any employee of a carrier by air subject to the provisions of title I I of the Railway Labor A ct; or (5) any employee employed in the catching, taking, harvest ing, cultivating, or farming of any kind o f fish, shellfish, Crustacea, sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life, including the going to and returning from work and including employment m the loading, unloading, or packing of such products for shipment or in propagating, processing, marketing, freezing, canning, curing, storing, or distributing the above products or byproducts thereof; or (6) any employee employed in agriculture; or (7) any employee to the extent that such employee is exempted by regulations or orders of the Administrator issued under section 14 ; or (8) any employee employed in connection with the publication of any weekly or semiweekly newspaper with a circulation of less than three thousand the major part of which circulation is within the county where printed and published; or (9) any employee of a street, Suburban, or interurban electric railway, or local trolley or motor bus carrier, not included in other exemptions contained in this section; or (10) to any individual employed within the area of pro duction (as defined by the Administrator), engaged in handling, packing, storing, ginning, compressing, pasteurizing, drying, pre paring in their raw or natural state, or canning of agricultural or horticultural commodities for market, or in making cheese or butter or other dairy products. (b) The provisions of section 7 shall not apply with respect to (1) any employee with respect to whom the Interstate Commerce Commission has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of section 204 of the Motor Carrier Act, 1935; or (2) any employee of an employer sub ject to the provisions of Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act. (c) The provisions of section 12 relating to child labor shall not apply with respect to any employee employed in agriculture while 10 [ P u b . 718.1 not legally required to attend school, or to any child employed as an actor in motion pictures or theatrical productions. LEARNERS, APPRENTICES, AND HANDICAPPED WORKERS S ec . 14. The Administrator, to the extent necessary in order to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by regu lations or by orders provide for (1) the employment of learners, of apprentices, and o f messengers employed exclusively in delivering letters and messages, under special certificates issued pursuant to regulations of the Administrator, at such wages lower than rhe minimum wage applicable under section 6 and subject to such limi tations as to time, number, proportion, and length of service as the Administrator shall prescribe, and (2) the employment of individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury, under special certificates issued by the Admin istrator, at such wages lower than the minimum wage applicable under section 6 and for such period as shall be fixed in such certificates. PROHIBITED ACTS S ec. 15. (a) After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any person— (1) to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that ship ment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 6 or section 7, or in violation of any regu lation or order of the Administrator issued under section 14; except that no provision of this Act shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this Act shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for transportation; (2) to violate any o f the provisions of section 6 or section 7, or any of the provisions of any regulation or order of the Admin istrator issued under section 14; (3) to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or has served or is about to serve on an industry committee. (4) to violate any of the provisions of section 12; (5) to violate any of the provisions of section 11 (c), or to make any statement, report, or record filed or kept pursuant to the provisions of such section or of any regulation or order there under, knowing such statement, report, or record to be false in a material respect. (b) For the purposes of subsection (a) (1) proof that any employee was employed in any place of employment where goods shipped or sold in commerce were produced, within ninety days prior to the removal of the goods from such place of employment, shall be prima IP u b . 718.] XI facie evidence that such employee was engaged in the production of such goods. PENALTIES S ec. 16. (a) Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of section 15 shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of such person for a prior offense under this subsection. (b) Any employer who violates the provisions of section 6 or section 7 of this Act shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid over time compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Action to recover such liability may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated, or such employee or employees may designate an agent or representative to maintain such action for and in behalf of all employees similarly situated. The court in such action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee to be paid by the defendant, and costs of the action. INJU NCTION PROCEEDINGS S ec . 17. The district courts of the United States and the United States courts of the Territories and possessions shall have jurisdiction, for cause shown, and subject to the provisions of section 20 (relating to notice to opposite party) of the Act entitled “An Act to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes” , approved October 15, 1914, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 28, sec. 381), to restrain violations of section 15. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS S ec . 18. No provision of this Act or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this Act or a maximum workweek lower than the maximum workweek established under this Act, and no provision of this Act relating to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard than the standard established under this Act. No provision of this Act shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this Act, or justify any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this Act. SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS S ec . 19. I f any provision of this Act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder o f the Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. Approved, June 25, 1938.