Compliance Stuff

On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued  Opinion Letter FLSA2026‑1 , addressing whether an employer may classify an employee as non‑exempt even when the employee satisfies the educational and job duties requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) learned professional exemption. The opinion letter arose from a request involving a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) employed by a healthcare organization. The employee performed core job duties that included clinical assessments and psychosocial evaluations; treatment planning and documentation; participation in interdisciplinary care teams; crisis intervention and discharge planning; and consistent application of professional discretion and clinical judgment. The employee had been classified as exempt since obtaining her professional license, but following an internal restructuring that eliminated supervisory responsibilities, they were reclassified as non-exempt. The employee sought clarification a...

Takeaways DOL Wage and Hour Division plans to remove certain FLSA non-binding interpretive guidance documents from the CFR and relocate them to the agency’s internal Field Operations Handbook. Guidance on the 7(i) exemption for retail or service establishments and the Motor Carrier Act exemption are among the key interpretive rules affected by the proposal. DOL has said it may decide to revise or rescind the affected rules in the future, and it may do so without undertaking formal rulemaking. Related link Federal Register: Proposed Rule: Statements of General Policy or Interpretation Not Directly Related to Regulations Article The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed  moving some regulations governing application of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to an appendix in DOL’s Field Operations Handbook (FOH). The proposal would shed more than 450 separate FLSA regulations (on 229 pages) from the CFR. Man...

How employers deal with politics in the workplace involves a wide range of issues, including an organization’s brand, reputation, and values. Politics in the workplace implicates a substantial number of labor and employment laws, including anti-discrimination laws, the National Labor Relations Act, state mandatory employer-sponsored meeting bans, and voting leave laws. Indeed, conversations regarding political issues can lead to claims of employer discrimination, harassment, or retaliation in violation of federal, state, and local employment anti-discrimination laws. Employers should be aware of their rights to restrict politics in the workplace as well as employees’ rights in this area. With the upcoming election, employers should be fully prepared to act proactively to mitigate issues before they arise. Doing so will lower the risk of employee complaints and simultaneously improve productivity in the workplace. As the 2024 election approaches, protests continue across the country, an...