Forms
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The WH-46 is the application an employer submits when seeking to obtain authority to employ multiple industrial homeworkers in a restricted industry (other than women's apparel). The form requires the employer to list the names and addresses of the individuals to be employed as homeworkers. In addition, if the language of the homeworker is other than English, the employer must indicate the language spoken.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): 29 C.F.R. Part 530
Under Section 11(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. § 211(d), the Secretary of Labor is "authorized to make such regulations and orders regulating, restricting, or prohibiting industrial homework as are necessary or appropriate to prevent the circumvention or evasion of and to safeguard the minimum wage rate prescribe in this Act…." The regulations regarding the employment of homeworkers may be found in 29 C.F.R. Part 530.
Industrial homework, as defined by the regulations, means the production by any person in or about a home, apartment, tenement, or room in a residential establishment of goods for an employer who suffers or permits such production, regardless of the source (whether obtained from an employer or elsewhere) of the material used by the homeworker in such production. 29 C.F.R. § 516.31(a)(2). An industrial homeworker is any employee employed or suffered or permitted to perform industrial homework for an employer. 29 C.F.R. § 516.31(a)(1).
Regulations, 29 C.F.R. Part 530, require that employers obtain certificates from the U. S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division authorizing the employment of homeworkers in certain restricted industries before the employment may commence. 29 C.F.R. § 530.1-.2. The seven restricted industries which are listed and defined in the regulations are:
Women's Apparel Industry
Jewelry Manufacturing Industry
Knitted Outerwear Industry
Gloves and Mittens Industry
Handkerchief Manufacturing Industry
Embroideries Industry
Button and Buckle Manufacturing Industry
Two different types of certificates are issued by the Wage and Hour Division - an individual industrial homeworker certificate which authorizes a specific individual to perform homework in a restricted industry because of certain circumstances impacting that employee's ability to work outside the home (i.e., use Form WH-2); and an employer homeworker certificate that authorizes an employer to employ homeworkers in a particular restricted industry, except women's apparel. No employer homeworker certificates may be issued for the women's apparel industry (i.e., use Form WH-46).
All homeworker certificate applications are processed at a single location. Completed applications shall be submitted to the following address:
U.S. Department of Labor
Wage and Hour Division
Attention: Homeworker Certification
230 S. Dearborn Street/node/715
Room 530
Chicago, IL 60604-1757
Telephone: (312) 596-7195
You may contact that office at 1-866-4-USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) with questions regarding the employment of homeworkers in restricted industries and the application and certification processes.
All homeworkers subject to the provisions of the FLSA must be paid in compliance with the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Act. In addition, records must be maintained in accordance with section 11(c) of the FLSA and Regulations, 29 CFR Part 516. All homeworkers must complete a homeworker handbook in accordance with Regulations, Part 516.31 and shall be instructed to accurately record all hours worked, piece work information, and business related expenses in the handbook. Homeworker Handbooks (Form
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