Fact or Fiction: FLSA preempts state wage and hour laws?

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post” d/b/a (just for today) “Eric’s 36th-Birthday Post”. 

*** Sigh ***

Ahh…let’s get to today’s question:

May an employee raise claims in federal court against an employer under both the Fair Labor Standards Act (federal) and a state wage and hour law? Or is the latter preempted by the former, such that an employee may only pursue FLSA claims?

The answer to today’s question — at least in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals — comes to us from a decision rendered Tuesday in Knepper v. Rite Aid Corp. There, the court recognized that the FLSA “evinces a clear intent to preserve rather than supplant state law.” Consequently, it held that state wage and hour laws such as the Maryland Wage and Hour Law and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act — two laws that track the federal overtime requirements — are not preempted by the FLSA.

The answer to today’s QATQQ is FICTION.