The Wage and Hour Division issues guidance primarily through Opinion Letters, Ruling Letters, Administrator Interpretations, and Field Assistance Bulletins. These guidance documents are described below. Note that rulings and interpretations may be affected by changes to the applicable statute or regulations. Also, from time to time we update our interpretations in response to new information, such as court decisions, and may withdraw a ruling or interpretation in whole or in part. WHD anticipates posting additional past guidance online; guidance not appearing on the Department’s guidance portal is currently not in effect but is under review. You may contact the Wage and Hour Division with queries about any of its guidance documents.

An interpretation or ruling issued by the Administrator interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), or the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA) is an official ruling or interpretation of the Wage and Hour Division for purposes of the Portal-to-Portal Act. 29 U.S.C. § 259. Such rulings provide a potential good faith reliance defense for actions that may otherwise constitute violations of the FLSA, DBA, or PCA. However, a withdrawn ruling or interpretation, or the withdrawn portion of a ruling or interpretation, may not be relied upon as an official ruling or interpretation of the Administrator or the Wage and Hour Division for any purpose, including under the Portal-to-Portal Act. To keep apprised of such developments, consult Wage and Hour’s website. To be notified each time the web page is updated with new rulings and interpretations, click here to begin the registration process for Wage and Hour’s free email service, or to edit your profile. You may unsubscribe at any time by choosing to edit, and then deleting your profile.

In the event of a vacancy in the Administrator’s position, a ruling or interpretation signed by the Acting Administrator, Deputy Administrator, or Deputy Administrator for Program Operations is also authoritative and constitutes an official ruling of the Wage and Hour Division. Rulings and interpretations signed by other Wage and Hour officials (i.e., Non-Administrator letters), denoted by an NA following the ruling or interpretation number, are official statements of WHD policy but do not constitute rulings or interpretations under the Portal-to-Portal Act. The Wage and Hour Division maintains discretion regarding the appropriate signatory for all rulings and interpretations.

Individuals with questions about the application of wage and hour laws to their particular situation may also talk to a Wage and Hour Division representative by contacting the office nearest them listed at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/local-offices or by calling the Division’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone.