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On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the relaunching and expansion of its opinion letter program (Program). The Program is designed to help the public understand their compliance obligations through opinion letters, which are formal, written guidance on how a DOL enforcement agency would apply federal labor law in a specific workplace situation. These letters can be requested by anyone and address various workplace scenarios, such as how to apply existing law to novel or ambiguous legal issues.Continue Reading U.S. Department of Labor Announces Relaunch & Expansion of Its Opinion Letter Program

On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published FAB No. 2025-1, providing guidance to its field staff on the analysis to apply when determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee for purposes of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) enforcement.

The independent contractor vs. employee analysis under the FLSA has fluctuated for more than a decade. The applicable analysis has always revolved around the economic realities test, but the focus of the test has shifted.Continue Reading U.S. Department of Labor Issues New FLSA Independent Contractor Guidance

Coffee shop customer places cash in a tip jar
Unrecognizable male coffee shop customer places cash into a tip jar.

In August 2024, we reported on the highly anticipated opinion in Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, 115 F.4th 396 (5th Cir. 2024), in which the Fifth Circuit vacated the 2021 Dual Jobs Final Rule as arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to the text of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In light of that decision, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently published a new Final Rule eliminating the 2021 Dual Jobs Final Rule—commonly referred to as the “80/20/30” rule—from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). This is a technical amendment that reinstates the DOL’s original dual jobs regulation and restores the CFR to its pre-2021 language based on the 1967 dual jobs regulation.Continue Reading DOL Returns to Prior Dual Jobs Regulation for Tipped Employees

On January 9, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule creating the test for independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The final rule marks the rescission of the Trump administration’s more employer-friendly rule and revives the likeness of prior tests that are more likely to classify workers as employees…

Continuing with the White House’s push to revamp the employment landscape, the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) proposed regulations for federally funded construction projects will return to the definition of “prevailing wage” that was last used in 1983.  The agency’s proposed changes to the regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon Act are intended to speed up prevailing wage updates and will increase wages for construction workers over time.Continue Reading DOL Returns to Prior Davis-Bacon Act Wage Definition for Construction Industry