Employees are ``engaged in commerce'' within the meaning of the Act
when they are performing work involving or related to the movement of
persons or things (whether tangibles or intangibles, and including
information and intelligence) among the several States or between any
State and any place outside thereof. (The statutory definition of
commerce is contained in section 3(b) of the Act and is set forth in
Sec. 779.12.) The courts have made it clear that this includes every
employee employed in the channels of such commerce or in activities so
closely related to this commerce, as to be considered a part of it as a
practical matter. (Court cases are cited in the discussion of this term
in Secs. 776.9--776.13 of this chapter). Typically, but not exclusively,
employees engaged in interstate or foreign commerce include employees in
distributing industries, such as wholesaling or retailing, who sell,
handle or otherwise work on goods moving in interstate commerce as well
as workers who order, receive, pack, ship, or keep records of such
goods; clerical and other workers who regularly use the mails, telephone
or telegraph for interstate communication; and employees who regularly
travel across State lines while working.
