The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) established the 40–hour workweek as the norm for American workers. It was the culmination of more than 100 years of protest and struggle by working Americans to control long work hours so that they would have time for themselves and their families, to protect their health and safety, and to spread employment more widely. By and large, the FLSA succeeded. The average workweek in the year 2000 was 39.1 hours, although in ten major industries more than 20 percent of employees worked more than 40 hours a week.
