American Samoa § 32.0320 - Minimum wage.

§ 32.0320. Minimum wage.

Every employer shall, except as the Board may provide pursuant to 32.0321 and 32.0322, pay to each employee employed by him wages at the rate of not less than 70 cents per hour. This section applies only to those employees not now covered by the present Merit System Law and Federal Minimum Wage Schedule established by the U.S. Department of Labor on 5 June 1967. Case Notes: Territorial minimum wage statute, including provision for punitive damages for willful failure to pay territorial minimum wage, does not apply to employees covered by provisions of federal minimum wage law. A.S.C.A. §§ 32.0320, 32.0340. Moea`i v. Reid, 9 A.S.R.2d 48 (1988). Punitive damages provision of territorial minimum wage statute, for willful failure to pay the minimum wage, is limited to a claim based on the difference between the employee’s hourly wage and the minimum wage; this provision does not apply to an action for breach of contract where, although the employee has not been paid, his contractual wage was higher than the statutory minimum. A.S.C.A. §§ 32.0320, 32.0340. Moea`i v. Reid, 9 A.S.R.2d 48 (1988). Employer’s failure to pay overtime wage rate was not willful where employer (1) admitted liability for overtime payments; (2) disputed, not without merit, the number of overtime hours claimed by employee; and (3) offered uncontradicted testimony that nonpayment of other amounts was due to inability to pay. A.S.C.A. §§ 32.0320, 32.0340. Moea`i v. Reid, 9 A.S.R.2d 48 (1988). Apparent conflicts between statutes can often be reconciled by application of the rule that the more specific statute prevails over the more general. Id. Territorial minimum wage statute, including provision for punitive damages for willful failure to pay territorial minimum wage, does not apply to employees covered by provisions of federal minimum wage law. A.S.C.A. §§ 32.0320, 32.0340. Moea`i v. Reid, 9 A.S.R.2d 48 (1988).