universal argued decided december information fair labor standards act appellees charged counts violating minimum wage overtime provisions act district dismissed three counts one section violated held order district affirmed without prejudice amendment information pp section fair labor standards act penalizes course conduct read enabling prosecutor treat separate offense breach statutory duty owed single employee workweek pp supp affirmed district dismissed three counts information fair labor standards act supp appeal affirmed john davis argued cause brief acting solicitor general stern assistant attorney general murray beatrice rosenberg bishop william tyson bessie margolin philip perlman solicitor general statement jurisdiction melbourne bergerman argued cause appellees brief aaron lewittes seymour kleinman james aylward justice frankfurter delivered opinion case arises information fair labor standards act stat amended stat charging defendant corporation division operations manager two successive branch managers violations minimum wage overtime provisions act counts laid six failure act pay minimum wages twenty violation overtime provisions six failure comply requirements counts charge minimum wage violations six separate weeks one per week one employee one week three employees counts charge overtime violations twenty separate weeks one per week total eleven employees involved two violations charged nine employees counts charge violations four employees two violations two employees charged section act subjects employer offending first time maximum fine violation provision district assumed authorize fine upon conviction information rejecting reading whereby prosecutor treat separate offense breach statutory duty owed single employee single workweek district granted defendant motion dismiss three counts information held course conduct rather separate items course constitutes punishable offense ordered consolidation separate acts set forth information three counts charging one violation review decision government brought case criminal appeals act stat problem construction criminal provisions fair labor standards act easy solution congress made allowable unit prosecution issue us answered merely literal reading penalizing sections generalities statutory construction help us little rules law merely axioms experience boston sand solve special difficulties construing particular statute variables render every problem statutory construction unique see jin fuey moy reason may utilize construing statute unambiguous light relevantly shed upon words clause statute express purpose congress early chief justice marshall told us mind labors discover design legislature seizes every thing aid derived fisher cranch particularly construe statutes defining conduct entail stigma penalties prison penal statutes subject basic consideration legislation like writings given insofar language permits commonsensical meaning choice made two readings conduct congress made crime appropriate choose harsher alternative require congress spoken language clear definite derive criminal outlawry ambiguous implication penal provision fair labor standards act part scheme available government employee enforcing act preventive remedy injunction individual class actions restitution damages also available remedies frequently invoked effective achieving purposes act course various remedies must read relation asked addition infer employer failure perform obligations employee creates separate criminal offense provisions civil liability expressly recognize right individual employee maintain separate action employer restitution damages argument cuts ways congress wanted attach criminal consequences separate civil liability easily said difficulty stating explicitly unit civil liability owing employee instead balancing various generalized axioms experience construing legislation regard specific history legislative process culminated act us affords solid ground giving appropriate meaning originally introduced congress bill fair labor standards act evolved two separate penalty provisions one underpayments violation one failure comply provisions provision set maximum fine explicitly defined constituted separate offense employee unit criminal offense week violation separate offense measure wound way long legislative process resulted consolidation two penalty provisions elimination separate offense clauses substitution maximum fine rather striking changes afford justifiable ground giving less harsh therefore reasonable construction portions legislation addition illuminating statements houses concerning separation offenses although separate offense clause violations deleted early legislative process separate offense clause attacked debate precisely authorize sort multiplication offenses number employees information us represents indeed multiplication information goes beyond even original bills authorized underpayments employees split separate counts information violations week split serve basis separate counts claim one answer possible problem history legislation inexplicitness language weigh government construction statute said decisively clear face one way history language legislation case attracted respective authority two cases pressed upon us snow blockburger district judge therefore correct rejecting government construction statute offense made punishable fair labor standards act course conduct reading statute compendiously treats one offense violations arise singleness thought purpose action may deemed single impulse conception recognized blockburger case supra quoting wharton criminal law ed merely illustrate without attempting rule specific situations wholly unjustifiable managerial decision certain activity work therefore require compensation standards turned multiplicity offenses considering underpayment single week single employee separate offense however wholly distinct managerial decision piece workers paid less statutory requirement terms hourly rates see rosenwasser involves different course conduct constitute different offense thus underpayments based violations statute piece workers compounded single offense unrelated underpayments resulted decision certain activity work merely two kinds underpayments occurred workweek involved employee whether aggregate acts constitute single course conduct therefore single offense one may capable ascertainment merely bare allegations information may await trial facts information based find improper theory draftsman indictment may charge crime variety forms avoid fatal variance evidence may cast indictment several counts whether body facts upon indictment based gives rise one criminal offense one sure defendant may call upon prosecutor elect asking bill particulars render various counts specific event indictment multiple counts prosecutor gives necessary notice less conclusion government case defendant may insist counts merely variants single offense affirming order without prejudice amendment information mean suggest amendment increase number offenses may made trial begun government precluded amending information either meet exigencies evidence charge separate offenses separate courses conduct substantive provision decide district judge correctly held single course conduct constitute one offense fair labor standards act without prejudice amendment information trial evidence offered warrants order affirmed footnotes supp modified order dated march government urges act construed punish failure comply duty imposed act employee workweek record required kept brief however none first counts charging minimum wage overtime underpayments similar violations charged two employees week sufficient case urge violations may split according workweek rather also according employee last six counts charging violations might possible government urge less record required kept separate offense one minor exception violations alleged least two employees every workweek violations charged workweek unit prosecution since periods time six counts range seven weeks six months employee also unit since although violations employee made separate charges two employees subject two charges apiece whatever differences exist minimum necessary sustain particular information claim made government immaterial view disposition case appellee urge case prescribes one offense even three kinds violations argument seems made rejected distinct requirements two different sections act involved blockburger penal provision applied person violates fails comply requirements act see sess clause read employment employee violation provision act order unlawful employee employed violation provision shall constitute separate offense clause week failure keep records required act furnish board authorized representative board shall constitute separate offense see cong rec cong rec cong rec force added statements fact one made member house proposed amendment adopted vote division specifically delete separate offense clause cong rec bill thus came conference house separate offense clauses deleted senate clause deleted versions still provided maximum fine conference accepted house version neither separate offense clause raised maximum fine see reported committee july cong rec sess cong rec conference report cong rec justice douglas dissenting think question whether employer violated criminal provisions act determined reference done particular employee act speak course conduct terminology act act requires employer pay employees less cents hour prohibits employing employees hours week unless overtime paid requires keep records persons employed wages hours etc amended act makes unlawful employer violate provisions sections therefore seems clear employer pays one employee less cents hour fails pay overtime one employee fails keep required records one employee crime established scienter shown seems equally clear employer wilfully fails pay one employee minimum wage wilfully fails pay required overtime wilfully fails keep required records three crimes committed crime defined reference individual employee crime may single isolated act may may recurring continuous violation may affect one employee one week one month another employee another week another month may affect one employee one way another employee different way violations may continuous follow set pattern may sporadic erratic act differentiate nothing said course conduct perhaps committee congress receptive suggestion made received course horrendous possibilities envisaged almost every law prosecutors enforce act grand juries hear evidence violations district courts apply sanctions date made criminal provisions oppressive beyond reason yet case far learn ever inventive genius suggest course conduct rather employee unit crime