The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently issued an opinion letter addressing whether the time voluntarily spent by employees participating in a wellness program or attending a benefits fair is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to WHD, because participation was primarily for the employees’ own benefit, the time was noncompensable.
Last year, WHD announced that it had resumed issuing informal opinion letters in response to employer inquiries as a means of providing guidance to employers in meeting their FLSA compliance obligations. WHD also issues opinion letters in response to inquiries regarding compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Although a WHD opinion letter can provide a defense to an alleged FLSA violation, the employer must be able to show that it acted in good faith “in conformity” with the circumstances described in the letter.
The wellness program opinion letter was one of four in a batch of letters issued recently by WHD. The other three letters deal with much narrower issues not of interest to employers generally.
A copy of the wellness program/benefits fair opinion letter is available online.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.