Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 61 Part 1.djvu/112

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PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 52-MAY 14, 1947 52 Stat. 1060; 49 Stat. 2036. 1011 . 29 U. . c. §§201- 219; 41 U. S. C. §§35- 45;40U.S.C.§§276a- 276a-5 . 1Ante, p. 87; poet, p. 454. Supra. 52 Stat. 1060; 49 Stat. 1011. 29 U. S.. §§ 201- 219; 40U.S .C . §276a- 276a-5 . Ante, p. 87; post, p. 454. 52 Stat. 1060. 29 U. S. C. §§201- 219. A nte, p. 87. 52 Stat. 1060; 49 Stat. 2036, 1011. 29 U.S. C. § 201- 219; 41 U. S. C. §§35- 45; 40 U.S. C . 5§276a- 276a-5 . Ante, p. 87; post, p. 454. liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act- (a) if the cause of action accrues on or after the date of the enactment of this Act-may be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued; (b) if the cause of action accrued prior to the date of the enactment of this Act-may be commenced within whichever of the following periods is the shorter: (1) two years after the cause of action accrued, or (2) the period prescribed by the applicable State statute of limitations; and, except as provided in para- graph (c), every such action shall be forever barred unless com- menced within the shorter of such two periods; (c) if the cause of action accrued prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, the action shall not be barred by paragraph (b) if it is commenced within one hundred and twenty days after the date of the enactment of this Act unless at the time com- menced it is barred by an applicable State statute of limitations. SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF COMMENCEMENT OF FUTURE ACTIONS.- In determining when an action is commenced for the purposes of section 6, an action commenced on or after the date of the enactment of this Act under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act, shall be considered to be commenced on the date when the complaint is filed; except that in the case of a collective or class action instituted under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, or the Bacon-Davis Act, it shall be considered to be commenced in the case of any individual claimant- (a) on the date when the complaint is filed, if he is specifically named as a party plaintiff in the complaint and his written consent to become a party plaintiff is filed on such date in the court in which the action is brought; or (b) if such written consent was not so filed or if his name did not so appear-on the subsequent date on which such written con- sent is filed in the court in which the action was commenced. SEC. 8. PENDING COLLECrIVE AND REPRESENTATIVE AcrToNs. - The statute of limitations prescribed in section 6 (b) shall also be appli- cable (in the case of a collective or representative action commenced rior to the date of the enactment of this Act under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended) to an individual claimant who has not been specifically named as a party plaintiff to the action prior to the expiration of one hundred and twenty days after the date of the enactment of this Act. In the application of such statute of limitations such action shall be considered to have been commenced as to him when, and only when, his written consent to become a party plaintiff to the action is filed in the court in which the action was brought. SEc. 9 . RELIANCE ON PAST ADMINISTRATIE RULINGS, ETc. -In any action or proceeding commenced prior to or on or after the date of the enactment of this Act based on any act or omission prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, no employer shall be subject to any liability or punishment for or on account of the failure of the employer to pay minimum wages or overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act, if he pleads and proves that the act or omission complained of was in good faith in conformity with and in reliance on any administrative regulation, order, ruling, approval, or inter- pretation, of any agency of the United States, or any administrative practice or enforcement policy of any such agency with respect to the 88 [61 STAT.