Employers have traditionally relied on opinion letters issued by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) to explain requirements set forth in certain employment-related statutes, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).  Through the opinion letter process, employers submitted fact-specific situations to the DOL for analysis.  The DOL would subsequently issue an opinion letter detailing how it would apply the law to that particular situation.  In theory, this gave employers a method for having a process or policy approved by the government before implementing that process or policy.  In practice, it sometimes took years to receive the requested opinion.

On March 24, 2010, the DOL announced that its practice of providing opinion letters regarding specific factual situations would be replaced with the issuance of “administrator interpretations.”  Unlike opinion letters, administrator interpretations will set forth a more generalized interpretation of the law, instead of the fact-specific advice previously given.  According to the DOL, this broader guidance will increase the applicability of DOL interpretations and make better use of DOL resources.  Like their predecessor opinions, administrator interpretations will be published on the DOL website, searchable by subject area addressed.