Opinion ID: 3011219
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 29 C.F.R. S 778.215(a)(5) is an interpretive

Text: guideline. The District Court appears to have interpreted 29 C.F.R. S 778.215(a)(5) as a formal agency regulation.11 See, e.g., Madison, Civ. No. 97-7402, slip op. at 11 (r eferring to 29 C.F.R. S 778.215(a)(5) as a Department of Labor regulation[ ]). But Section 778.215(a)(5) is not a formal administrative regulation. This is made clear by 28 C.F.R. _________________________________________________________________ 11. The District Court did not explicitly addr ess the level of deference that it applied to S 778.215(a)(5). 15 S 778.1, which lays out the purpose of Part 778 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Section 778.1 provides: This Part 778 constitutes the official interpr etation of the Department of Labor with respect to the meaning and application of the maximum hours and overtime pay requirements contained in section 7 of the Act. It is the purpose of this bulletin to make available in one place the interpretation so these provisions which will guide the Secretary of Labor and the Administrator in the performance of their duties under the Act unless they are otherwise directed by authoritative decisions of the court or conclude, upon reexamination of an interpretation, that it is incorrect. These official interpretations are issued by the Administrator on the advice of the Solicitor of Labor, as authorized by the Secretary. 29 C.F.R. S 778.1. Section 778.1 leaves no doubt that S 778.215(a)(5) is an interpretive guideline, issued on the advice of the Solicitor of Labor and authorized by the Secretary, not an official regulation pr omulgated after notice-and-comment rule making.