New Administration Providing Employer-Friendly Compliance Assistance in DOL Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has established a new web page for employers to submit requests for opinion letters to the Wage & Hour Division, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.  A DOL opinion letter can serve as a legal defense in the event of a future lawsuit or investigation.  These letters explain the legal interpretation of how the law would apply in a specific situation in response to a request from an individual employer.  DOL’s approach increasing the frequency of these letters marks a shift from the Biden Administration, which rarely issued opinion letters.

In another development, DOL announced in late June that it would no longer seek liquidated damages in Wage & Hour investigations, another shift from the Biden Administration.  The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows workers to sue to recover unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensation and also to seek an equal amount as liquidated damages.  The DOL now takes the position that DOL will not supervise the payment of liquidated damages in administrative matters including investigations, but only in actual litigation.

In other developments, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is in the process of narrowing its use of the general duty clause enforcing workplace safety regulations.  The agency has referenced Justice Kavanaugh’s dissent in Sea World of Florida, LLC. v. Perez, where the Justice argued the general duty clause does not authorize OSHA to regulate hazards from activities intrinsic to an occupation, such as professional sports or entertainment purposes.  On the other hand, OSHA appears to be moving ahead in developing a potential federal heat standard.  The government historically has tried to address certain hazards such as heat or ergonomics with the general duty clause rather than a specific clause. 

This article is part of our August 2025 Newsletter. 

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