Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced its intent to again issue opinion letters in response to wage payment questions posed to the agency by employers and employees. Last month, DOL reinstated 17 opinion letters issued during the George W. Bush administration, which had been withdrawn by Barack Obama’s DOL. Most of these letters deal with exemption of certain occupations from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Others address specific wage payment issues under the FLSA.

These opinion letters had been completed but not finalized at the end of the Bush presidency. The letters and the promise of resumed opinions give employers the ability to again ask and rely on DOL positions with regard to FLSA exemption and pay policy questions.