The Department of Labor (DOL) is expanding efforts to assist employers with compliance matters by issuing opinion letters, according to a recent announcement from the agency.
Five enforcement agencies within the DOL will be involved with the expanded program, including the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Employee Benefits Security Administration. Some agencies may provide other forms of guidance, such as advisory opinions or letters of interpretation, as part of the program.
Opinion letters explain how these agencies enforce federal laws and regulations in the case of specific workplace situations. Though the first Trump administration relied heavily on opinion letters—the Wage and Hour Division issued 80 during his first term, according to law firm Littler Mendelson—the Biden administration was less dependent on this type of guidance, with the WHD issuing just eight.
“Opinion letters are an important tool in ensuring workers and businesses alike have access to clear, practical guidance,” Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said in the DOL’s announcement. “Launching this program is part of our broader effort to empower the public with the information they need to understand and comply with the laws the department enforces.”
How to submit an opinion letter request. HR leaders can visit the DOL’s new landing page to submit a request for this type of guidance. To help the agency better understand why a question is relevant, the DOL recommends doing the following:
- “Reference any specific laws, regulations or other guidance that you think is relevant.
- Include an accurate and complete description of the facts, such as job duties, work schedules or pay structure.
- Confirm that the request is not related to an existing matter that requires the interpretation of federal law. Note that we do not issue letters for use in any investigation or litigation matter that existed before submitting your request.
- Do not include sensitive personal or confidential business information – responses may be published publicly on our website.
- Include your phone number in case we need to follow up.”
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What this means for labor enforcement. The first Trump administration’s reliance on this type of guidance, coupled with this expanded program, suggests the number of opinion letters issued by the DOL will likely increase in the coming months.
Thus far, during Trump’s second term, the DOL has issued one opinion letter (May 2025) reinstating the agency’s previous stance on the independent contractor status of service providers working for a virtual marketplace company. The WHD issued a letter in 2019 explaining why it believed these workers would be considered independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Biden administration withdrew that letter in 2021, but the latest opinion letter puts it back in effect once again.
Even as the DOL is putting additional resources toward helping employers comply with federal labor laws, it has pulled back on other types of enforcement mechanisms. A Jan. 24 directive essentially shuttered the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which oversaw federal contractors’ compliance laws and regulations. The OFCCP’s oversight has since narrowed to focus on preventing discrimination against disabled people, as well as promoting affirmative action of Vietnam veterans, rather than looking at potential systemic discrimination across the board, HR Brew reported.