By Mark Adams
The United States Department of Labor has announced the launch of its opinion letter program.
As the federal agency has maintained an opinion letter for quite some time (and has an extensive library that has been compiled over the years), this iteration has been expanded to now cover five of its sub-agencies – specifically its:
- Wage and Hour Division
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Employee Benefits Security Administration
- Veterans Employment and Training Service; and
- The Mine Safety and Health Administration
The expansion is designed to foster a greater emphasis on practical guidance that employers can leverage for compliance purposes.
The page (which can be found here) also provides tips and things to avoid when crafting an opinion letter. While these details vary slightly based on the sub-agency selected, employers should confirm in writing that:
- They are not included in a current or pending agency investigation; and
- Are not asking for an opinion to use in a lawsuit that started before the request.
[Since DOL agencies do not issue opinion letters under those circumstances.]
General elements to include in an opinion letter are:
- The specific law or regulation with respect to which an opinion is sought
- The requester’s name and/or organization
- The requester’s email and telephone number (in case the sub-agency has questions regarding the request)
- A description of relevant facts (as the opinion letter response is limited to and dependent upon the facts described in the request).
- Do not include sensitive personal privacy information (e.g. social security numbers etc.), or confidential business information (such as trade secrets or confidential commercial information) as any information included in the content of the request may be incorporated into any response and made available to the public on the agency’s website.
We will keep you informed as opinion letters are developed and published in response to inquiries.