FLSA Opinion Letters Issued by US DOL 

Situation Report | November 9, 2020 

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced two new opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

One that may be of interest to home care and hospice providers addresses the compensability of time that employees spend attending voluntary training programs in certain situations. 

The six scenarios in the opinion letter include various situations where a non-profit hospice employs a variety of clinical staff who have ongoing continuing education requirements mandated by their respective professions’ licensing requirements and employ a certain number of non-clinical staff who do not have ongoing continuing education requirements. The hospice seeks clarification on whether time spent in education programs by the clinical and non-clinical staff is compensable. 

An opinion letter is an official, written opinion by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division on how a particular law applies in specific circumstances presented by the person or entity that requested the letter.