A more thorough explanation:

The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that was passed as part of the New Deal. Its purpose is to regulate the hours, wages, and working conditions of employees and to prevent child labor in most cases. The law is found in the United States Code at 29 U.S.C §§201-219.

Some of the key provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act include:

• Setting a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour
• Requiring employers to pay overtime for any hours worked over 40 hours per week
• Penalizing employers who willfully violate the law

It's important to note that the Fair Labor Standards Act only applies to employees, not independent contractors. However, employers who misclassify their employees as independent contractors can still be penalized for violating the law.

For example, let's say that a company hires a worker to perform a specific job. If the company controls how, when, and where the worker performs the job, and the worker is economically dependent on the company, then the worker is likely an employee and entitled to the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If the company misclassifies the worker as an independent contractor and fails to pay them minimum wage or overtime, the company could be penalized for violating the law.