On January 8, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued opinion letter FLSA2021-1.  Spoiler alert – the DOL determined that account managers at a life science products manufacturer were properly classified as exempt from overtime based on the administrative exemption. These employees have at least a bachelor’s degree in a life science (or

On November 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued opinion letter FLSA2020-15 regarding compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for time employees spend attending voluntary training programs such as outside, ongoing continuing education classes (CEUs). The employer at issue is a non-profit hospice care provider with clinical

On January 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its first Opinion Letter of the new year –  FLSA2020-1.  In this instance an employer pays employees a non-discretionary lump sum bonus of $3,000 who complete a 10 week training program and agree to continue training for another 8 weeks. However, the employee will

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued yet another opinion letter sorting out when an employee need not be paid while volunteering.  DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2019-2 was one of three letters issued on March 12, 2019. In this case, an employer inquired whether an employee’s time spent in its optional volunteer program was compensable as

On March 14, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Opinion Letter FLSA2019-1. In this situation, an employer asked whether the FLSA applies when its employees (live-in superintendents and residential janitors) are exempt from state law overtime. The DOL confirmed what I’ve posted about several times:

When a federal, state, or local minimum

Admittedly, I’m a little late blogging about this one…not sure how it escaped me. It is slightly old news, but important for home health care providers or other employers who use varying average hourly rates. The Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter on December 21, 2018 regarding the determination of minimum wage and

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced its decision to once again issue Opinion Letters, Ruling Letters, Administrator Interpretations and Field Assistance Bulletins.  They will be published on the DOL website here, along with past opinions (pre-2009).  Interpretations by the DOL Administrator that interpret the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Davis-Bacon Act