§ 783.0 Purpose of this part.

This part 783 is the official interpretation of the Department of Labor with respect to the meaning and application of sections 6(b)(2), 13(a)(14), and 13(b)(6) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, which govern the application of the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements of the Act to employees employed as seamen. Prior to the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1961, which became effective on September 3, 1961, all employees employed as seamen were exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions of the Act. The 1961 amendments have narrowed this exemption so as to extend the minimum wage provisions of the Act to employees employed as seamen on American vessels. Employees employed as seamen on vessels other than American vessels continue to be exempt from both the minimum wage and the overtime pay requirements of the Act. It is the purpose of this part to make available in one place the interpretations of the law relating to employees employed as seamen which will guide the Secretary of Labor and the Administrator in the performance of their duties under the Act.