The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced today that it has issued three new opinion letters. This release demonstrates the agency's continued commitment to providing meaningful compliance assistance to help employees understand their rights and ensure that employers have the information they need to comply with federal labor laws.

The letters released today address the following compliance issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA):

• FLSA2019-3, addresses whether a youth  residential care facility may implement an "8 and 80" overtime pay system;
• FLSA2019-4, addresses the application of the teacher exemption to Nutritional Outreach Instructors employed by a public university; and
• FLSA2019-5, addresses the application of the agricultural exemption to the freezing, cutting, packing, storing, and/or transportation of a farm’s own fruit, vegetable, or meat products.

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 WHD on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity requesting the letter.

The public is encouraged to submit requests for opinion letters to WHD and can visit this webpage to learn how to request an opinion letter or determine whether existing agency guidance already addresses their questions. 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. WHD will exercise discretion in determining whether and how it will respond to each request.