An administrative opinion letter is a written response from the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) regarding how the agency enforces a particular law in regard to a scenario presented in writing by a requestor.
BOLI is pausing the issuance of opinion letters and will not be accepting new requests for written guidance through January 2025. Employers are welcome to reach out to Employer Assistance at 971-361-8400 or email
employer.assistance@boli.oregon.gov.
BOLI exercises discretion in determining whether to provide an opinion letter in any situation, and the agency may deny a request for any reason.
BOLI issues administrative opinion letters to provide the public at large with guidance on the application of employment laws enforced by the agency. For this reason, the agency is more likely to respond to generally applicable questions helpful to a broad group of employers or industry. The agency is less likely to issue an administrative opinion on questions regarding highly fact-dependent situations such as classification determinations.
Note: when an opinion letter provides explanation, clarification, or application of the statutes and administrative rules enforced by BOLI, these interpretations do not add to, alter, or replace those provisions that alone are legally binding. Compliance guidance depends on the particular facts and circumstances described in the request for guidance. The existence of other facts or circumstances may lead to different conclusions.
Note that guidance in an opinion letter may be affected by changes to the applicable statute or regulations.
Opinion letters issued by the agency are not intended as legal advice. This communication is not an agency order. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.
Review existing guidance
Before requesting an opinion letter, please consult the following guidance and compliance assistance materials:
Employers may contact Employer Assistance at 971-361-8400 or
employer.assistance@boli.oregon.gov for technical assistance and information on the civil rights and wage and hour laws enforced by BOLI.
Complaints may be filed online from
https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/Pages/complaint.aspx. For information on filing a complaint email
boli_help@boli.oregon.gov or call 971-245-3844.
What to include in your opinion letter request
A request for an opinion
must include a representation that the opinion is not sought:
- By a party in a BOLI investigation, its representative, or any third party acting on its behalf; or
- By a party, its representative, or any third party acting on its behalf for use in any litigation that was initiated prior to the submission of the opinion letter request.
BOLI will deny opinion letter requests from any party which fails to provide these representations.
A request for an opinion letter should also include:
- The specific statute and regulations with respect to which an opinion is sought;
- A description of any facts that might be relevant to the opinion sought (e.g., the nature of the employer's business, an employee's job duties or work schedule, the amount and structure of any compensation, etc.);
- The requestor's email address and telephone number should the agency need to discuss the request.
Note: Any information provided in conjunction with a request for an administrative opinion is a public record and may be incorporated into any response that we provide; such responses are made available to the public on our website. Please do not include any personal or private information (e.g., social security numbers, etc.) in the content of your request for guidance. Additionally, please do not include information in your request that you consider to be a trade secret or confidential commercial information.
Where to submit an opinion letter request
If after consulting existing agency guidance and compliance assistance materials you still wish to request an opinion letter, please submit your guidance request to:
Due to agency staff workload, it may take 4-12 weeks to receive a final opinion letter.