Regarding a suit against Raytheon for failure to pay overtime wages, one of the plaintiffs wrote...

"At the end of [one winter], several winter overs contacted legal representation to investigate the possibility of ice workers being obligated overtime pay as dictated by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Although the FLSA does not either explicitly include or exclude Antarctica, the original intent was to protect American workers from corporate abuses. Indeed, until the mid 50s there were no extraterritorial exclusions at all. At that point, there was a Supreme Court decision that granted overtime payment to someone working for an American company overseas. After the decision, Congress amended the FLSA to include only US territories or possessions and a few other odd ball places where Americans worked (military bases, embassies, etc.). The primary concern was US legislation interfering with the laws of other nations, hence the presumption against extraterritoriality...."

In January 2004, the judge dismissed the case, determining that Antarctica is "a foreign country", and thus does not fall under the reach of the Fair Labor Standards Act, exempting Antarctic workers from overtime wages. Concurrently, the IRS argues that Antarctica is "not a foreign country", obligating Antarctic workers to pay U.S. taxes.

(Overtime Suit Ruling/pdf/86K)