29 C.F.R. §§ 779.237–779.245

Engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, including

Employees handling, selling or otherwise working on goods that have been moved in or produced for commerce by any person.

“Goods” upon which the described activities are performed. Employees will be considered to be handling, selling, or otherwise working on goods within the meaning of section 3(s) if they engage in the described activities on “goods” which “have been moved in or produced for commerce by any person.” They may be handling or working on such goods which the enterprise does not sell. The term “goods” is defined in section 3(i) of the Act. The definition is explained in § 779.107 and discussed comprehensively in part 776 of this chapter. As defined in section 3(i) of the Act, the term includes any part or ingredient of “goods” and, in general, includes “articles or subjects of commerce of any character.” Thus the term “goods,” as used in section 3(s), includes all goods which have been moved in or produced for commerce, such as stock-in-trade, or raw materials that have been moved in or produced for commerce.

“Handling * * * or otherwise working on goods.”— The term “handling * * * or otherwise working on goods” used in section 3(s) is substantially the same as the term used since 1938 in section 3(j) of the Act. Both terms will therefore be considered to have essentially the same meaning. (See part 776 of this chapter, the interpretative bulletin on the general coverage of the Act.) Thus, the activities encompassed in the term “handling or in any other manner working on goods” in section 3(s) are the same as the activities, encompassed in the similar term in section 3(j), by which goods are “produced” within the meaning of the Act. In general, the term “handling * * * or otherwise working on goods” includes employees who sort, screen, grade, store, pack, label, address, transport, deliver, print, type, or otherwise handle or work on the goods. The same will be true of employees who handle or work on “any part of ingredient of the goods” referred to in the discussion of the term “goods” in § 779.107. An employee will be considered engaged in “handling * * * or otherwise working on goods,” within the meaning of section 3(s), only if he performs the described activities on goods that “have been moved in or produced for commerce by any person.” This requirement is discussed in §§ 779.242 and 779.243.

Retail or service enterprises may be covered under section 3(s)(1) of the prior Act or section 3(s)(1) of the amended Act although the latter is not limited to retail or service enterprises. A retail or service enterprise will be a covered enterprise under section 3(s)(1) of the amended Act if both the following conditions are met:

A retail or service enterprise will be covered under section 3(s)(1) of the Act prior to the amendments if all four of the following conditions are met:

Sections 779.258 through 779.260 discuss the meaning of “annual gross volume of sales made or business done” and §§ 779.261 through 779.264 discuss what excise taxes may be excluded from the annual gross volume. Sections 779.265 through 779.269 discuss the method of computing the annual gross volume where it is necessary to determine monetary obligations to employees under the Act.