DOL Issues Four New Opinion Letters

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced today that it has issued four new opinion letters that demonstrate its commitment to providing meaningful compliance assistance to help employees understand their rights and ensure employers have the tools they need to comply with federal labor law. The letters address compliance under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other laws. The opinion letters issued today address:

• Application of section 7(k) to nonprofit, privately-owned volunteer fire departments
• "Reasonable relationship" between salary paid and actual earnings
• Application of section 13(a)(3) to a pool management company
• Dual jobs and related duties under section 3(m)

The department 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 the department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity requesting the letter. Opinion letters represent official statements of agency policy. The public is encouraged to submit requests for opinion letters to the Wage and Hour Division and can visit this webpage to learn how to request an opinion letter or determine whether existing agency guidance already addresses their questions. The division will exercise discretion in determining whether and how it will respond to each request.