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DOL Issues Opinion on FLSA Exempt Status and Ministerial Exception

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A new Department of Labor Opinion Letter discusses the general contours of the ministerial exception to the application of the minimum wage and overtime rules in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

While the fact pattern discussed in the letter involves a church-operated day care and preschool, the general principles would apply to any person who is deemed to be a minister under principles outlined in the Supreme Court’s opinions in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Our Lady Of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru.

In the letter, the DOL said it concluded that the ministerial exemption would allow the school to pay teachers on a salary basis that would not otherwise conform with the minimum wage and overtime rules in the FLSA if the teachers qualify as ministers.

You can read the opinion letter here. Please contact us online or at [email protected] if you have questions about how this may apply to your organization or school.

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