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ARTICLE · 08 NOVEMBER 2016

USDOL "Fact Sheets" Are Not The Law

Fisher Phillips LLP
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USDOL has published many other "Fact Sheets" having to do with different FLSA exemptions or with matters relating to compensating non-exempt employees...

United StatesEmployment and HR
John Thompson
John Thompson
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Some employers are apparently referring mainly (or even only) to U.S. Labor Department "Fact Sheets" in deciding what they should do to prepare for the coming  changes in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act's so-called "white collar" exemptions.

While one might see these "Fact Sheets" as being useful summaries or overviews for these purposes, management must understand that these materials are not themselves the definitions of exempt status under the FLSA's Section 13(a)(1).

The Regulations Are The Rules

Instead, the specific requirements and detailed criteria for exempt status under that provision appear in force-of-law USDOL regulations found at 29 C.F.R. Part 541.  An employer should not rely upon "Fact Sheets" as if they are reproductions or restatements of, or substitutes for, those regulations.

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