29 U.S.C. § 253 — Compromise and waiver

Page 113 TITLE 29—LABOR § 254 1 See References in Text note below. 1 See References in Text note below. U.S.C. 201 et seq.], of the Walsh-Healey Act, or of the Bacon-Davis Act,1 in determining the time for which an employer employed an employee there shall be counted all that time, but only that time, during which the employee engaged in activities which were compensable within the meaning of subsections (a) and (b) of this sec- tion. (d) Jurisdiction No court of the United States, of any State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or of the District of Columbia, shall have jurisdic- tion of any action or proceeding, whether insti- tuted prior to or on or after May 14, 1947, to en- force liability or impose punishment for or on account of the failure of the employer to pay minimum wages or overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], under the Walsh- Healey Act, or under the Bacon-Davis Act,1 to the extent that such action or proceeding seeks to enforce any liability or impose any punish- ment with respect to an activity which was not compensable under subsections (a) and (b) of this section. (e) Assignment of actions No cause of action based on unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liq- uidated damages, under the Fair Labor Stand- ards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act,1 which accrued prior to May 14, 1947, or any interest in such cause of action, shall hereafter be assignable, in whole or in part, to the extent that such cause of action is based on an activity which was not compensable within the meaning of subsections (a) and (b). (May 14, 1947, ch. 52, § 2, 61 Stat. 85.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, re- ferred to in subsecs. (a), (c) to (e), is act June 25, 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, which is classified generally to chapter 8 (§ 201 et seq.) of this title. For complete clas- sification of this Act to the Code, see section 201 of this title and Tables. The Walsh-Healey and Bacon-Davis Acts, referred to in subsecs. (a), (c) to (e), are defined for purposes of this chapter in section 262 of this title. § 253. Compromise and waiver (a) Compromise of certain existing claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act; limitations Any cause of action under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon- Davis Act,1 which accrued prior to May 14, 1947, or any action (whether instituted prior to or on or after May 14, 1947) to enforce such a cause of action, may hereafter be compromised in whole or in part, if there exists a bona fide dispute as to the amount payable by the employer to his employee; except that no such action or cause of action may be so compromised to the extent that such compromise is based on an hourly wage rate less than the minimum required under such Act, or on a payment for overtime at a rate less than one and one-half times such minimum hourly wage rate. (b) Waiver of liquidated damages under Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 Any employee may hereafter waive his right under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], to liquidated damages, in whole or in part, with respect to ac- tivities engaged in prior to May 14, 1947. (c) Satisfaction Any such compromise or waiver, in the ab- sence of fraud or duress, shall, according to the terms thereof, be a complete satisfaction of such cause of action and a complete bar to any action based on such cause of action. (d) Retroactive effect of section The provisions of this section shall also be ap- plicable to any compromise or waiver heretofore so made or given. (e) ‘‘Compromise’’ defined As used in this section, the term ‘‘com- promise’’ includes ‘‘adjustment’’, ‘‘settlement’’, and ‘‘release’’. (May 14, 1947, ch. 52, § 3, 61 Stat. 86.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, re- ferred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), is act June 25, 1938, ch. 676, 52 Stat. 1060, which is classified generally to chap- ter 8 (§ 201 et seq.) of this title. For complete classifica- tion of this Act to the Code, see section 201 of this title and Tables. The Walsh-Healey and Bacon-Davis Acts, referred to in subsec. (a), are defined for purposes of this chapter in section 262 of this title. § 254. Relief from liability and punishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Walsh-Healey Act, and the Bacon-Davis Act for failure to pay minimum wage or overtime compensation (a) Activities not compensable Except as provided in subsection (b), no em- ployer shall be subject to any liability or pun- ishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act,1 on account of the failure of such employer to pay an employee minimum wages, or to pay an em- ployee overtime compensation, for or on ac- count of any of the following activities of such employee engaged in on or after May 14, 1947— (1) walking, riding, or traveling to and from the actual place of performance of the prin- cipal activity or activities which such em- ployee is employed to perform, and (2) activities which are preliminary to or postliminary to said principal activity or ac- tivities, which occur either prior to the time on any par- ticular workday at which such employee com-