Bush-era FLSA Opinion Letters Reinstated
January 15, 2018
The U.S. Department of Labor's Acting Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Administrator, Bryan L. Jarrett, has reinstated 17 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) opinion letters previously withdrawn on March 2, 2009. The now-reinstated letters apparently had been signed but not yet mailed prior to January 21, 2009, the end of the Bush Administration. At the time, the WHD said that it would issue final responses to the withdrawn opinion letter requests at a future date.
The reinstated opinion letters, which have been renumbered, are:
- FLSA2018-17: Construction supervisors employed by home builders and section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-16: Volunteer fire company contracting for paid EMTs – joint employment and volunteer status;
- FLSA2018-15: Product demonstration coordinators and section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-14: Calculation of salary deductions and section 13(a)(1) salary basis;
- FLSA2018-13: Fraud/theft analysts and agents under section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-12: Consultants, clinical coordinators, coordinators, and business development managers under section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-11: Job bonuses and section 7(e);
- FLSA2018-10: Residential construction project supervisor and section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-9: Year-end non-discretionary bonus and section 7(e);
- FLSA2018-8: Client service managers and section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-7: Salary deductions for full-day absences based on hours missed and section 13(a)(1) salary basis;
- FLSA2018-6: Coaches and the teacher exemption under section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-5: Regular rate calculation for fire fighters and alarm operators;
- FLSA2018-4: Commercial construction project superintendents and section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-3: Helicopter pilots and section 13(a)(1);
- FLSA2018-2: Plumbing sales/service technicians and section 7(i); and
- FLSA2018-1: Ambulance personnel on-call time and hours worked.
In each instance, Jarrett said that the opinion letter was reinstated following the request of an unnamed party and after further analysis.