The Department of Labor on June 2 announced a program of opinion letters, to be released by five of its agencies, including the Employee Benefits Security Administration, aiming to provide clearer and more accessible guidance on federal labor laws.

Other participating agencies include the Wage and Hour Division; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

EBSA will release advisory opinions and information letters, from which practitioners governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act have historically drawn legal advice. DOL opinion letters are not legally binding, but they can provide helpful guidance, particularly for plan sponsors, on how the DOL applies the law to the circumstances at hand.

If a plan sponsor faces uncertainty about a specific law or the plan sponsor’s compliance, they can request the department’s opinion. If the DOL offers guidance, plan sponsors facing a similar situation can refer to the guidance.

“Opinion letters are an important tool in ensuring workers and businesses alike have access to clear, practical guidance,” said Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling in a statement. “Launching this program is part of our broader effort to empower the public with the information they need to understand and comply with the laws the department enforces.”

Though plan sponsors have relied on sub-regulatory advice for ERISA-related legal matters for years, the DOL issued an average of one advisory opinion per year since 2014. By comparison, in 2012 and 2013, the DOL issued five advisory opinions each year.

Legal experts say the opinion letter program re-opens doors to plan sponsors and the regulatory community.

“This is the department’s way of indicating to the regulated community, ‘Come in, we’re open for business,’ and [of] resetting its relationship with the public and the regulated community,” says Katie Kohn, a partner in Thompson Hine LLP, who advises clients in retirement plan compliance.

Legal experts say the opinion letter program could signal where the agency intends to deploy its limited resources. In February, probationary employees at the understaffed EBSA were laid off as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to shrink the size of federal agencies, and last month, Trump proposed a budget plan that would reduce the DOL’s funding by 26%.

The same experts note that the approach could be effective, considering the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce et al., which overturned the Chevron deference to federal agencies’ interpretations of laws.

“Sub-regulatory advice might be drawn into increased question in light of [the ruling], but in an environment in which the practitioner is starving for authority, all of the guidance from the DOL is appreciated and important,” says Andrew Oringer, a partner in Wagner Law Group.

The approach also means the legal community could receive expedited guidance, Thompson Hines’ Kohn says. However, she notes that comment letters have less force and effect than actual regulations.

“They’re able to more nimbly and more quickly get guidance out to the community without going through notice and comment rulemaking, which takes considerably longer than an advisory opinion or other sub-regulatory guidance,” Kohn says.