Yes, I see. You applied the same standard to this research as you have to your $1000 fines for licensed Drivers. That's OK. I've got your back . .

elaws - Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor

Farmworkers:

Local hand harvest laborers who commute daily from their permanent residence, are paid on a piece rate basis in traditionally piece-rated occupations, and were engaged in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year

Okay, I looked it over.

I see a lot about minimum wage rates and overtime pay and associated exemptions. I don't see prohibitions on piecework.

Pay by the piece isn't illegal. It doesn't matter what you call the piece. Farm workers are often paid by the box. Writers are paid by the piece for magazine articles or books. Contractors are paid by the house/kitchen cabinet/countertop/roof/whatever. Artists and craftspersons are paid by the painting/sculpture piece/item of jewelry. Hookers are paid by the piece. Or job, if you're in a hurry (don't say it's illegal--it's legal in Nevada).

In general, if something doesn't pay by time (minute, hour day, week, etc.) it's piecework.

Then there's us. Pay by the mile (or load/trip/ton) is pay by the piece; more pieces = more pay. If piecework was illegal, trucking's pay schemes would have to be different. By the way, pay per mile/load/trip/ton were all pay schemes before the 1980 economic and regulatory deregulation of the trucking industry. The point is that they were not/are not pay for the time it takes to get the job done.