The exemption applies to ``any employee engaged in'' ginning of
cotton. This means that the exemption may apply to an employee so
engaged, no matter by whom he is employed. Employees of the gin
operator, of an independent contractor, or of a farmer may come within
the exemption in any workweek when all other conditions of the exemption
are met. To come within the exemption, however, an employee's work must
be an integral part of ginning of cotton, as previously described. The
courts have uniformly held that exemptions in the Act must be construed
strictly to carry out the purpose of the Act. (See Sec. 780.2, in
subpart A of this part.) No operation in which an employee engages in a
place of employment where cotton is ginned is exempt unless it comes
within the meaning of the term ``ginning.''
