Paul DeCamp, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in Law360 Employment Authority, in “Opinion Letters Offer DOL 'Soft Power,' Attys Say,” by Daniela Porat. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
U.S. Department of Labor opinion letters give businesses backup assistance to comply with wage and hour law, but it is a tool that has been politicized and viewed as potentially skewed in favor of employers, attorneys say. …
Opinion letters provide guidance when there may be ambiguities in statutes and regulations, said Paul DeCamp, a former administrator in the DOL's Wage and Hour Division under George W. Bush and a member of management-side firm Epstein Becker Green PC.
"If you give employers of goodwill more information, they will do the right thing with that information and pay their people correctly," he said. "Workers who have more information, who are better informed about their rights, will be able to assert those rights in real time in the event that their employers are not otherwise complying with the law." ...
Opinion letters have always been subject to a lower standard of deference known as Skidmore deference, which is essentially the power to persuade, Epstein Becker Green's DeCamp said.
"I think the real value to me, as I look at opinion letters, is they increase compliance and they reduce violations," he said. "I think that's a good thing for everybody except lawyers."
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