In the News: HR.com Republishes Constangy Analysis on Key DOL Opinion Letters

HR.com has republished a recent Constangy article written by Jason Friedman and Rachael Rustmann, analyzing a series of key opinion letters issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) before the federal government shutdown on Sept. 30.

The article breaks down four WHD opinion letters addressing key compliance issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The guidance covers:

• Tip pooling and whether employees with regular customer interaction—such as front-of-house oyster shuckers—qualify as working in “customarily and regularly tipped occupations”
• Emergency pay and when premium payments must be included in the regular rate for overtime calculations
• Joint employment and the circumstances under which affiliated businesses may be required to aggregate hours for overtime purposes
• FMLA leave calculations for correctional employees working 12-hour Pitman schedules, including the treatment of mandatory versus voluntary overtime

To access the article on HR.com, click here.