New DOL FLSA Opinion Letters -- And Now the Opinion Data Base Is Searchable!
“I am from the government and I am here to help you.”
— Unknown.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced today that it is releasing three new opinion letters. One letter released today addresses the obligation under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to designate FMLA-qualifying leave and prohibition on expanding FMLA leave. The other two letters address Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issues:
Wage and recordkeeping requirements for residential janitors and “good faith” defense; and
Compensability of time spent participating in an employer-sponsored community service program.
The perhaps more interesting news is WHD now offers a search function allowing users to search opinion letters by key word, year, topic, and a variety of other filters. An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by WHD on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity requesting the letter.
There is also a webpage there the public can learn how to request an opinion letter or determine whether existing agency guidance already addresses their questions. DOL advises that: “A request for an opinion must include a representation that the opinion is not sought by a party in a Wage and Hour Division investigation, its representative, or any third party acting on its behalf; or by a party, its representative, or any third party acting on its behalf for use in any litigation that was initiated prior to the submission of the opinion letter request.”
If you want more information, go to https://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/guidance.htm.