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Labor Department: Ministerial Exception Applies to Wage & Hour Requirements of FLSA

 

Last week, the Labor Department issued an opinion letter in which it found that based upon facts presented, the ministerial exception applied to the wage and hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

In the facts considered by the Labor Department, a church controlled daycare and preschool asked whether its teachers were exempt from the FLSA’s wage and hour requirements.  According to the church, its teachers were “ministers” and fell within the scope of the FLSA’s exception.  For those needing a refresher, the FLSA requires employers to pay covered employees a minimum wage for all hours worked. In addition, overtime must be paid when an employee works more than 40 hours in a week.  Note, there are certain exemptions for certain executive, administrative, and professional employees.  A “ministerial exception” exists that prohibits courts from interfering in employment disputes between churches and related religious institutions.

The Labor Department wrote that while there is no “checklist” for determining when an employee qualifies as a minister for purposes of the exception nor any requirement that an employee be ordained or have a particular title to qualify, the teachers at issue in the opinion letter fell within the scope of the exception.  As a result, the church could pay these employees a salary basis that would not “otherwise comport with the FLSA.”


For a copy of the opinion letter:  https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/2021_01_08_02_FLSA.pdf

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