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Definition of homework

Examples of homework in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'homework.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1662, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Dictionary Entries Near homework

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“Homework.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homework. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

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Definition of homework noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

• acquire/get/lack experience/training/(an) education
• receive/provide somebody with training
• develop/design/plan a curriculum/course/program/syllabus
• give/go to/attend a class/lesson/lecture/seminar
• hold/run/conduct a class/seminar/workshop
• moderate/lead/facilitate a discussion
• sign up for/take a course/classes/lessons
• go to/start preschool/kindergarten/nursery school
• be in the first, second, etc. grade (at school)
• study/take/drop history/chemistry/German, etc.
• finish/drop out of/quit school
• graduate from high school/college
• be the victim/target of bullying/teasing
• skip/cut/ ( informal ) ditch class/school
• cheat on an exam/a test
• get/be given a detention (for doing something)
• be expelled from/be suspended from school
• do your homework/a project on something
• work on/write/do/submit an essay/a dissertation/a thesis/an assignment/a paper
• finish/complete your dissertation/thesis/studies
• hand in/turn in your homework/essay/assignment/paper
• study/prepare/review/ ( informal ) cram for a test/an exam
• take/ ( formal ) sit for a test/an exam
• grade homework/a test
• do well on/ ( informal ) ace a test/an exam
• pass/fail/ ( informal ) flunk a test/an exam/a class/a course/a subject
• apply to/get into/go to/start college
• leave/graduate from college (with a degree in computer science)/law school
• study for/work towards a law degree/a degree in physics
• major/minor in biology/philosophy
• earn/receive/be awarded/get/have/hold a master's degree/a bachelor's degree/a Ph.D. in economics

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Definition of homework – Learner’s Dictionary

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• Go upstairs and do your homework.
• For your homework, please do exercise 3 on page 24.
• When I finish my homework, can I watch TV?
• Get on with your homework.
• She was trying to duck out of doing her homework.

(Definition of homework from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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Definition of 'homework'

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homework in American English

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What Is Homework?

Homework is work that teachers give students to complete outside of the school day. Homework is meant to provide students with practice for what was learned in school or an extension of what was done in class. Students are expected to complete the homework and return to school with the completed homework assignment.

Why Do Teachers Give Homework?

Most teachers give students homework so that they can practice something that was taught to them during class.

For example, if a teacher is teaching students how to add decimal numbers then the homework assignment would be for students to try adding decimals at home independently.

In my science class I never give my students homework that isn’t meaningful or practice towards a learning standard.

Gone are the days of giving homework that is “busy work”.

Also, when students return the following day their homework assignment is incorporated into the lesson so they quickly figure out that completing homework is necessary.

Some teachers, myself included, will use homework as a formative assessment.

If you are unsure what formative assessments are then you need to check out this article I wrote recently.

What Does Homework Look Like?

Homework can be almost anything.

Some examples of homework may include a simple worksheet to complete, a long term project, research, reading, a journal entry, completing something online, a drawing, or the continuation of something started in school, and just about anything else.

Homework isn’t limited to one specific thing.

With my eight grade students I have assigned videos for them to watch, creating a slideshow, completing a CER (more about the CER here) , conduct a survey for data collection, and more.

I have even had them collect leaves to identify the following day in our science class!

If you are a teacher reading this make sure to make your homework assignments interesting and worthwhile, don’t just assign homework as busy work.

Do Teachers Have To Give Homework?

No, teachers don’t have to give homework.

Usually teachers have discretion whether or not they are going to assign homework.

Personally, the principal or school district I work for has no idea how often I assign homework or what I assign for homework.

This decision to give or not give homework solely comes down to the classroom teacher.

The Importance Of Homework

The importance of homework is a heavily debated topic these days.

On one hand you have teachers that will say it is necessary that students continue learning outside the classroom in order to be more successful inside the classroom.

On the other hand some teachers will say that homework isn’t necessary as long as students are working hard during the school day.

Another reason homework is seen as not necessary is because students these days are so busy out of school that they don’t have time to complete homework.

Who is right?

I’d say it’s probably somewhere in the middle.

There is nothing wrong with a little homework for students but it shouldn’t be assigned every night.

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I (Allen) am currently teaching at a public school in a western suburb of Chicago. My teaching career started in 2004. Some of my interests outside of teaching is being with my family, biking, playing video games, travelling, and making the Teacher Adviser website.

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Purpose, Public Attitudes toward Homework, The Positive and Negative Effects of Homework, Extensiveness of Homework

Homework is defined as tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are intended to be carried out during nonschool hours. This definition excludes in-school guided study (although homework is often worked on during school), home-study courses, and extracurricular activities such as sports teams and clubs.

The most common purpose of homework is to have students practice material already presented in class so as to reinforce learning and facilitate mastery of specific skills. Preparation assignments introduce the material that will be presented in future lessons. These assignments aim to help students obtain the maximum benefit when the new material is covered in class. Extension homework involves the transfer of previously learned skills to new situations. For example, students might learn in class about factors that led to the French Revolution and then be asked as homework to apply them to the American Revolution. Finally, integration homework requires the student to apply separately learned skills to produce a single product, such as book reports, science projects, or creative writing.

Homework also can serve purposes that do not relate directly to instruction. Homework can be used to (1) establish communication between parents and children; (2) fulfill directives from school administrators; (3) punish students; and (4) inform parents about what is going on in school. Most homework assignments have elements of several different purposes.

Public Attitudes toward Homework

Homework has been a part of student's lives since the beginning of formal schooling in the United States. However, the practice has been alternately accepted and rejected by educators and parents.

When the twentieth century began, the mind was viewed as a muscle that could be strengthened through mental exercise. Since this exercise could be done at home, homework was viewed favorably. During the 1940s, the emphasis in education shifted from drill to problem solving. Homework fell out of favor because it was closely associated with the repetition of material. The launch of the satellite Sputnik by the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s reversed this thinking. The American public worried that education lacked rigor and left children unprepared for complex technologies. Homework, it was believed, could accelerate knowledge acquisition.

The late 1960s witnessed yet another reversal. Educators and parents became concerned that homework was crowding out social experience, outdoor recreation, and creative activities. In the 1980s, homework once again leapt back into favor when A Nation at Risk (1983), the report by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, cited homework as a defense against the rising tide of mediocrity in American education. The push for more homework continued into the 1990s, fueled by increasingly rigorous state-mandated academic standards. As the century ended, a backlash against homework set in, led by parents concerned about too much stress on their children.

The Positive and Negative Effects of Homework

The most direct positive effect of homework is that it can improve retention and understanding. More indirectly, homework can improve students' study skills and attitudes toward school, and teach students that learning can take place anywhere, not just in school buildings. The nonacademic benefits of homework include fostering independence and responsibility. Finally, homework can involve parents in the school process, enhancing their appreciation of education, and allowing them to express positive attitudes toward the value of school success.

Conversely, educators and parents worry that students will grow bored if they are required to spend too much time on academic material. Homework can deny access to leisure time and community activities that also teach important life skills. Parent involvement in homework can turn into parent interference. For example, parents can confuse children if the instructional techniques they use differ from those used by teachers. Homework can actually lead to the acquisition of undesirable character traits if it promotes cheating, either through the copying of assignments or help with homework that goes beyond tutoring. Finally, homework could accentuate existing social inequities. Children from disadvantaged homes may have more difficulty completing assignments than their middle-class counterparts.

Extensiveness of Homework

In contrast to the shifts in public attitudes, surveys suggest that the amount of time students spend on homework has been relatively stable. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress suggests that in both 1984 and 1994, about one-third of nine-year-olds and one-quarter of thirteen-and seventeen-year-olds reported being assigned no homework at all, with an additional 5 percent to 10 percent admitting they did not do homework that was assigned. About one-half of nine-year-olds, one-third of thirteen-year-olds, and one-quarter of seventeen-year-olds said they did less than an hour of homework each night. In 1994 about 12 percent of nine-year-olds, 28 percent of thirteen-year-olds, and 26 percent of seventeen-year-olds said they did one to two hours of homework each night. These percentages were all within one point of the 1984 survey results.

A national survey of parents conducted by the polling agency Public Agenda, in October, 2000, revealed that 64 percent of parents felt their child was getting "about the right amount" of homework, 25 percent felt their child was getting "too little" homework, and only 10 percent felt "too much homework" was being assigned.

International comparisons often suggest that U.S. students spend less time on homework than students in other industrialized nations. However, direct comparisons across countries are difficult to interpret because of different definitions of homework and differences in the length of the school day and year.

Appropriate Amounts of Homework

Experts agree that the amount and type of homework should depend on the developmental level of the student. The National PTA and the National Education Association suggest that homework for children in grades K–2 is most effective when it does not exceed ten to twenty minutes each day. In grades three through six, children can benefit from thirty to sixty minutes daily. Junior high and high school students can benefit from more time on homework and the amount might vary from night to night. These recommendations are consistent with the conclusions reached by studies into the effectiveness of homework.

Research on Homework's Overall Effectiveness

Three types of studies have been used to examine the relationship between homework and academic achievement. One type compares students who receive homework with students who receive none. Generally, these studies reveal homework to be a positive influence on achievement. However, they also reveal a relationship between homework and achievement for high school students that is about twice as strong as for junior high students. The relationship at the elementary school level is only one-quarter that of the high school level.

Another type of study compares homework to in-class supervised study. Overall, the positive relationship is about half as strong as in the first type of study. These studies again reveal a strong grade-level effect. When homework and in-class study were compared in elementary schools, in-class study proved superior.

The third type of study correlates the amount of homework students say they complete with their achievement test scores. Again, these surveys show the relationship is influenced by the grade level of students. For students in primary grades, the correlation between time spent on homework and achievement is near zero. For students in middle and junior high school, the correlation suggests a positive but weak relationship. For high school students, the correlation suggests a moderate relationship between achievement and time spend on homework.

Research on Effective Homework Assignments

The subject matter shows no consistent relationship to the value of homework. It appears that shorter and more frequent assignments may be more effective than longer but fewer assignments. Assignments that involve review and preparation are more effective than homework that focuses only on material covered in class on the day of the assignments. It can be beneficial to involve parents in homework when young children are experiencing problems in school. Older students and students doing well in school have more to gain from homework when it promotes independent learning.

Homework can be an effective instructional device. However, the relationship between homework and achievement is influenced greatly by the students' developmental level. Expectations for home work's effects, especially in the short term and in earlier grades, must be modest. Further, homework can have both positive and negative effects. Educators and parents should not be concerned with which list of homework effects is correct. Rather, homework policies and practices should give individual schools and teachers flexibility to take into account the unique needs and circumstances of their students so as to maximize positive effects and minimize negative ones.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

C AMPBELL , J AY R. ; R EESE , C LYDE M. ; O'S ULLIVAN, C HRISTINE; and D OSSEY , J OHN A. 1996. NAEP 1994 Trends in Academic Progress. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

C OOPER , H ARRIS. 2001. The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents, 2nd edition. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.

C OOPER , H ARRIS, and V ALENTINE , J. C., eds. 2001. "Homework: A Special Issue." Educational Psychologist 36 (3).

INTERNET RESOURCES

H ENDERSON , M. 1996. "Helping Your Student Get the Most Out of Homework." Chicago: National PTA and the National Education Association. < www.pta.org/Programs/edulibr/homework. htm >.

P UBLIC A GENDA. 2000. "Survey Finds Little Sign of Backlash Against Academic Standards or Standardized Tests." < www.publicagenda.org/aboutpa/aboutpa3ee.htm >

H ARRIS C OOPER

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Education - Free Encyclopedia Search Engine Education Encyclopedia

The History of Homework: Why Was it Invented and Who Was Behind It?

• By Emily Summers
• February 14, 2020

Homework is long-standing education staple, one that many students hate with a fiery passion. We can’t really blame them, especially if it’s a primary source of stress that can result in headaches, exhaustion, and lack of sleep.

It’s not uncommon for students, parents, and even some teachers to complain about bringing assignments home. Yet, for millions of children around the world, homework is still a huge part of their daily lives as students — even if it continues to be one of their biggest causes of stress and unrest.

It makes one wonder, who in their right mind would invent such a thing as homework?

Who Invented Homework?

Pliny the younger: when in ancient rome, horace mann: the father of modern homework, the history of homework in america, 1900s: anti-homework sentiment & homework bans, 1930: homework as child labor, early-to-mid 20th century: homework and the progressive era, the cold war: homework starts heating up, 1980s: homework in a nation at risk, early 21 st century, state of homework today: why is it being questioned, should students get homework pros of cons of bringing school work home.

Online, there are many articles that point to Roberto Nevilis as the first educator to give his students homework. He created it as a way to punish his lazy students and ensure that they fully learned their lessons. However, these pieces of information mostly come from obscure educational blogs or forum websites with questionable claims. No credible news source or website has ever mentioned the name Roberto Nevilis as the person who invented homework . In fact, it’s possible that Nevilis never even existed.

As we’re not entirely sure who to credit for creating the bane of students’ existence and the reasons why homework was invented, we can use a few historical trivia to help narrow down our search.

Mentions of the term “homework” date back to as early as ancient Rome. In I century AD, Pliny the Younger , an oratory teacher, supposedly invented homework by asking his followers to practice public speaking at home. It was to help them become more confident and fluent in their speeches. But some would argue that the assignment wasn’t exactly the type of written work that students have to do at home nowadays. Only introverted individuals with a fear of public speaking would find it difficult and stressful.

It’s also safe to argue that since homework is an integral part of education, it’s probable that it has existed since the dawn of learning, like a beacon of light to all those helpless and lost (or to cast darkness on those who despise it). This means that Romans, Enlightenment philosophers, and Middle Age monks all read, memorized, and sang pieces well before homework was given any definition. It’s harder to play the blame game this way unless you want to point your finger at Horace Mann.

In the 19 th century, Horace Mann , a politician and educational reformer had a strong interest in the compulsory public education system of Germany as a newly unified nation-state. Pupils attending the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given mandatory assignments that they needed to complete at home during their own time. This requirement emphasized the state’s power over individuals at a time when nationalists such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte were rallying support for a unified German state. Basically, the state used homework as an element of power play.

Despite its political origins, the system of bringing school assignments home spread across Europe and eventually found their way to Horace Mann, who was in Prussia at that time. He brought the system home with him to America where homework became a daily activity in the lives of students.

Despite homework being a near-universal part of the American educational experience today, it hasn’t always been universally accepted. Take a look at its turbulent history in America.

In 1901, just a few decades after Horace Mann introduced the concept to Americans, homework was banned in the Pacific state of California . The ban affected students younger than 15 years old and stayed in effect until 1917.

Around the same time, prominent publications such as The New York Times and Ladies’ Home Journal published statements from medical professionals and parents who stated that homework was detrimental to children’s health.

In 1930, the American Child Health Association declared homework as a type of child labor . Since laws against child labor had been passed recently during that time, the proclamation painted homework as unacceptable educational practice, making everyone wonder why homework was invented in the first place.

However, it’s keen to note that one of the reasons why homework was so frowned upon was because children were needed to help out with household chores (a.k.a. a less intensive and more socially acceptable form of child labor).

During the progressive education reforms of the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, educators started looking for ways to make homework assignments more personal and relevant to the interests of individual students. Maybe this was how immortal essay topics such as “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up” and “What I Did During My Summer Vacation” were born.

After World War II, the Cold War heated up rivalries between the U.S. and Russia. Sputnik 1’s launch in 1957 intensified the competition between Americans and Russians – including their youth.

Education authorities in the U.S. decided that implementing rigorous homework to American students of all ages was the best way to ensure that they were always one step ahead of their Russian counterparts, especially in the competitive fields of Math and Science.

In 1986, the U.S. Department of Education’s pamphlet, “What Works,” included homework as one of the effective strategies to boost the quality of education. This came three years after the National Commission on Excellence in Education published “ Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform .” The landmark report lambasted the state of America’s schools, calling for reforms to right the alarming direction that public education was headed.

Today, many educators, students, parents, and other concerned citizens have once again started questioning why homework was invented and if it’s still valuable.

Homework now is facing major backlash around the world. With more than 60% of high school and college students seeking counselling for conditions such as clinical depression and anxiety, all of which are brought about by school, it’s safe to say that American students are more stressed out than they should be.

After sitting through hours at school, they leave only to start on a mountain pile of homework. Not only does it take up a large chunk of time that they can otherwise spend on their hobbies and interests, it also stops them from getting enough sleep. This can lead to students experiencing physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from their peers and society in general.

Is homework important and necessary ? Or is it doing more harm than good? Here some key advantages and disadvantages to consider.

• It encourages the discipline of practice

Using the same formula or memorizing the same information over and over can be difficult and boring, but it reinforces the practice of discipline. To master a skill, repetition is often needed. By completing homework every night, specifically with difficult subjects, the concepts become easier to understand, helping students polish their skills and achieve their life goals.

• It teaches students to manage their time

Homework goes beyond just completing tasks. It encourages children to develop their skills in time management as schedules need to be organized to ensure that all tasks can be completed within the day.

• It provides more time for students to complete their learning process

The time allotted for each subject in school is often limited to 1 hour or less per day. That’s not enough time for students to grasp the material and core concepts of each subject. By creating specific homework assignments, it becomes possible for students to make up for the deficiencies in time.

• It discourages creative endeavors

If a student spends 3-5 hours a day on homework, those are 3-5 hours that they can’t use to pursue creative passions. Students might like to read leisurely or take up new hobbies but homework takes away their time from painting, learning an instrument, or developing new skills.

• Homework is typically geared toward benchmarks

Teachers often assign homework to improve students’ test scores. Although this can result in positive outcomes such as better study habits, the fact is that when students feel tired, they won’t likely absorb as much information. Their stress levels will go up and they’ll feel the curriculum burnout.

• No evidence that homework creates improvements

Research shows that homework doesn’t improve academic performance ; it can even make it worse. Homework creates a negative attitude towards schooling and education, making students dread going to their classes. If they don’t like attending their lessons, they will be unmotivated to listen to the discussions.

With all of the struggles that students face each day due to homework, it’s puzzling to understand why it was even invented. However, whether you think it’s helpful or not, just because the concept has survived for centuries doesn’t mean that it has to stay within the educational system.

Not all students care about the history of homework, but they all do care about the future of their educational pursuits. Maybe one day, homework will be fully removed from the curriculum of schools all over the world but until that day comes, students will have to burn the midnight oil to pass their requirements on time and hopefully achieve their own versions of success.

About the Author

Emily summers.

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Home » Education » What is the Difference Between Homework and Assignment

What is the Difference Between Homework and Assignment

The main difference between homework and assignment is that homework is a task or a work assigned to a student generally by a teacher to be completed outside the classroom setting, most probably at home, while an assignment is a task assigned to a student to be completed within the course of a particular study.

Assignments and homework vary from one another due to a wide range of distinctive elements such as the objective or the purpose of the task, main functions, and the benefits received.

Key Areas Covered

1.  What is Homework     – Definition, Features 2.  What is Assignment      – Definition, Features 3.  Similarities Between Homework and Assignment      – Outline of Common Characteristics 4.  Difference Between Homework and Assignment     – Comparison of Key Differences

What is Homework

Homework refers to the tasks assigned to the students by the schoolteachers.  They expect students to carry out the task during non-school hours. Teachers often give homework to complete at home in order to make their students practice the learning material already taught. Their aim is to reinforce learning and facilitate the mastery of specific competencies and skills .

Sometimes, a student might get preparation assignments as homework. The purpose of such homework is to introduce the student to the study material that the teacher will present in future lessons. Furthermore, it would help students to obtain the maximum benefit once the new material is being taught in class.

On the other hand, homework sometimes facilitates the transfer of previously acquired skills to new situations. For example, the students might learn in class about factors that led to World war I. Then, as homework, the teacher would ask the students to find out the factors that led to World war II. Here, the teacher gives an integration homework, which requires the student to apply separately learned skills to create a single product, such as science projects, newspaper reports, or creative writing.

In addition, homework can be used to build up proper communication between parents and children, as a constructive method of punishment and also to make the parents aware of what is happening in school.

What is Assignment

If you are a student, you might think that it is not your responsibility to learn by yourself; rather, it is the job of the teacher to teach you. But, a teacher cannot teach every little thing in a particular unit or subject to the students.

Such a spoon-feeding method of imparting knowledge can negatively influence the learning capabilities and the academic career of a student. Especially in academic establishments such as colleges or universities, teachers expect the students do some research to grasp the untaught concepts and to explore the subject on their own instead of teaching everything to the students using a lecture method.

The actual purpose of giving assignments is to enhance the learning skills of the students.  This enables the students to occupy their brains more and more. Academic assignments improve the creativity of the students as they naturally acquire and learn a lot when they read or practice a subject or art on their own.  Therefore, the main reason for giving assignments is to provide the student with a platform to practice and explore knowledge about a subject on their own.

Similarities Between Homework and Assignment

• Both aim at enhancing the learning skills of the students.
• Teachers or professors assign them to the students.
• It is possible to grade both homework and assignments.

Difference Between Homework and Assignment

Homework is a work or a task assigned to a student by a teacher to be completed during a non-school hour, whereas an assignment is a task assigned to a student in the course of study. In contrast to homework, an assignment usually provides the student with a clue about the objectives of the assigned task.

The main purpose of an assignment is to help a student understand the studying process well. In contrast,  homework basically helps the student to improve his/her skills.

Main Function

An assignment can be used to figure out what should be taught, while homework is basically used to identify the challenges encountered by students on a particular topic. 

Some advantages of assignments include supporting students to revise a particular topic and boosting the students’ confidence, whereas homework becomes helpful in understanding a specific topic and when preparing for an exam.

In brief, the main difference between homework and assignment is that homework is assigned to be completed outside the classroom while assignments are assigned to be completed within the course of a particular study. Nonetheless, no matter how beneficial they can be, for most students, homework and assignments are a massive source of unhappiness and irritation.

1. Levy, Sandra. “ Why Homework Is Bad: Stress and Consequences .” Healthline , Healthline Media.

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About the Author: Anuradha

Anuradha has a BA degree in English, French, and Translation studies. She is currently reading for a Master's degree in Teaching English Literature in a Second Language Context. Her areas of interests include Arts and Literature, Language and Education, Nature and Animals, Cultures and Civilizations, Food, and Fashion.

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WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Fact Sheet #24: Homeworkers Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Revised July 2008

This fact sheet provides general information concerning the application of the FLSA to homeworkers.

Characteristics

Under the FLSA, industrial homework (as defined in 29 CFR 530.1(d) ) 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 materials used by the homeworker in such production.

The FLSA applies to homeworkers who are covered on an "individual" basis or whose employer is covered on an "enterprise" basis. The enterprise coverage test requires a specified annual dollar volume of business. However, in most instances, a homeworker is covered under the FLSA on the basis of individual coverage (i.e. production of goods for out of state shipment and/or receipt of out of state materials or goods used in the production process).

Requirements

Homework requires certification in only seven specific industries: women's apparel, jewelry manufacturing, knitted outerwear, gloves and mittens, button and buckle manufacturing, handkerchief manufacturing and embroideries. Certification occurs when the employer obtains an employer certificate, or homeworkers obtain individual certification, from the Department's Wage and Hour Division, authorizing such work. Certified employers of homeworkers in these industries will be required to renew their certificate every two years. Employer certification is not available for women's apparel and certain hazardous jewelry manufacturing operations; only individual certification is permitted. Homework under the FLSA is not restricted in any industry other than those listed above. However, all individually covered homework is subject to the FLSA's minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements.

Homeworker employees must be paid the Federal minimum wage . This rate must be met regardless of whether the worker is paid by time, piece, job, incentive, or any other basis. The cost of tools, tool repair, or other similar requirements, may not be borne by the worker where such cost would reduce the wages paid below the required minimum wage or in any way reduce wages due for overtime hours. Overtime must be paid at one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for each hour worked in excess of 40 hours in any workweek. The regular rate includes all remuneration for employment, such as piece rate earnings and commissions paid. Time and one-half of the average piece rate of pay is to be paid for hours worked over 40 per week, if the average is greater than the employee's regular rate of pay (never less than the required minimum wage ).

Records which must be kept for all employees include: name, social security number, home address and telephone number, date of birth (if under 19 years of age), hours worked each day (including time spent transporting), total hours worked each workweek, basis of pay computations, regular pay, overtime premium pay, total gross pay, deductions (specifying the nature and amount of each), and net pay. All employees who have been hired since November of 1986 must also fill out the I-9 form, required by INS.

When employing homeworkers, a separate homeworker handbook is required. These handbooks are available through Wage and Hour offices. Employers are responsible for insuring that handbooks are completed as required. The handbooks require homeworkers to also list business related expenses, such as equipment and supplies.

In the case of clerical workers who may perform duties at home on only an occasional or sporadic basis, employers are not required to follow homework regulations. However, all hours, including the time worked at home, must be recorded and compensated as required by the FLSA for every employee.

Typical Problems

(1) Employer improperly treats homeworkers as "independent contractors".

(2) Employer fails to maintain required record of hours, production, etc., or fails to instruct the employee to record the required data in the DOL homeworker handbook.

(3) Employer fails to assure that homeworker paid on piece rate basis has earned the minimum wage .

(4) The employer must bear the cost of tools purchased as well as tool maintenance and repair to the extent that these costs cut into the minimum wage or overtime wages required.

(5) Employer fails to count as hours worked preparatory and concluding activities, time spent at the shop, travel time and training time.

(6) Employer fails to ensure proper certification for the restricted industries.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations.

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.