January 22, 2026 • News

USDOL Publishes Six New Opinion Letters

The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Wage & Hour Division (WHD) recently published six new opinion letters on the following Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) issues:

• FLSA2026-1: Whether an employee’s role meets the FLSA criteria for the learned professional exemption, and if so, whether an employer is nevertheless permitted to reclassify the employee as non-exempt.
• FLSA2026-2: Whether the FLSA permits an employer to exclude certain bonus payments from an employee’s regular rate of pay.
• FLSA2026-3: Whether a union and employer can enter into a collective bargaining agreement that mandates a 15-minute “roll call” prior to each scheduled shift but excludes that time when calculating overtime premiums. 
• FLSA2026-4: Whether, for purposes of the overtime exemption for certain commissioned employees, an employer in a jurisdiction in which the state minimum wage exceeds the federal minimum wage must use the higher or lower minimum wage to determine whether it has satisfied the minimum pay standard, as well as tips compensation.
• FMLA2026-1: How a school closure of less than a full week impacts the amount of leave a school employee uses.
• FMLA2026-2: Whether FMLA leave may be used for time spent traveling to or from medical appointments.

An opinion letter provides employers with the USDOL’s official written opinion of how a particular WHD law applies to a specific set of facts presented by the requesting entity. For more information on opinion letters or to submit a request for an opinion letter, see the WHD website.