The questions presented are (1) whether petitioner's employees are engaged 'in the production of goods for commerce' so as to bring them within the coverage of §§ 6 and 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 1060, 1062, 1063, 29 U.S.C. §§ 206 and 207, 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 206, 207), and (2), if so, whether they are exempted from the Act because 'engaged in any retail or service establishment the greater part of whose selling or servicing is in intrastate commerce' within the meaning of § 13(a)(2), 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(2), 29 U.S.C.A § 213(a)(2).
Respondent sought a permanent injunction in the United States District Court restraining petitioner from continued violation of the minimum wage, maximum hour and report-making provisions of the Act. 29 U.S.C. ss 206, 207, 211(c), 29 U.S.C.A. §§ 206, 207, 211(c). As to the coverage by the Act, the District Court said that 'the view of the Administrator should not be accepted,' but it rested its dismissal of the complaint upon the ground that the petitioner was exempted under § 13(a)(2). 54 F.Supp. 733, 736. The Circuit Court of Appeals, on the other hand, held that petitioner's employees 'were engaged in the production of goods for commerce' and that the petitioner was not a 'retail or service establishment' within the exemption prescribed in § 13(a)(2). It accordingly reversed the order of dismissal and remanded the cause for further proceedings in accordance with its opinion. 146 F.2d 745, 746. We granted certiorari especially because of the divergence of opinions among the Circuit Courts of Appeals as to the interpretation of § 13(a)(2).
Most of the relevant facts were stipulated. Petitioner is a Maryland corporation 'having its principal office, place of business and a manufacturing plant' in Baltimore. It is there engaged in 'commercial and industrial wiring, electrical contracting, and dealing in electrical motors and generators, for private, commercial, and industrial uses.'
Petitioner had 'approximately 1,000 active accounts * * * 99 per cent of which are commercial or industrial firms.' Its 'larger and most active accounts' were 33 in number. Of such 33 customers, one was a telephone company 'engaged in interstate commerce'; four were 'engaged in the repair of ships, tugs, barges, and other boats which were intended for movement in interstate commerce'; and 'the remaining companies on said list, with the exclusion of the American Ice Company (a small account in the period stipulated to be representative), were engaged in the production of goods for commerce as defined in Section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C.A. § 203, shipping at least a substantial portion of their total production to points outside the State of Maryland.' During the period stipulated, 'every mechanic of the defendant (petitioner) worked, in practically every workweek, for some of the said (33) customers, either in the repair of their motors, generators, the reconstruction of used motors sold to them, or in performing electrical work at their respective establishments.' To carry on its entire business, the petitioner had 36 employees, consisting of a foreman, 4 trouble shooters, 14 mechanics, 11 helpers and 6 office employees. No claim of coverage is made on the ground that any of the petitioner's employees were engaged 'in (interstate) commerce,' but only that they were engaged 'in production of goods for (interstate) commerce.'
As to coverage, the Act is unambiguous and the petitioner's employees come squarely within it as employees 'engaged * * * in the production of goods for commerce.' This turns on §§ 6(a), 7(a), 3(b), 3(i), and 3(j). Section 6(a) provides: 'Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who is engaged in commerce of in the production of goods for commerce wages at the following rates * * *.' (Italics supplied.) Section 7(a) likewise provides: 'No employer shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, employ any of his employees who is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce' at wages less than 1 1/2 times the regular rate, where an employee is employed for more than the maximum number of hours prescribed. (Italics supplied.) Section 3 includes the following:
'(b) 'Commerce' means trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States or from any State to any place outside thereof.