The US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced on October 19, 2026 a new field assistance bulletin, FAB 2026-1, addressing the treatment of related duties performed by tipped employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The bulletin withdraws three longstanding opinion letters - FLSA-895 (August 8, 1979), WH-502 (March 28, 1980), and FLSA-854 (December 20, 1985) - along with prior 80/20 guidance on related duties. The withdrawn guidance concerned how much time tipped employees can spend on duties that do not directly produce tips while their employer claims a tip credit against the federal minimum wage. The issue matters across service trades that rely on tipped work, including restaurants, salons, and barbershops. Under the Department's Dual Jobs final rule, published October 28, 2021 (86 FR 23446), an employer may take a tip credit only for hours when an employee is performing tip-producing work or tasks that directly support tip-producing work, and directly supporting work cannot be performed for a substantial amount of time. WHD's field assistance bulletin listing notes that the requirements of the earlier FAB 2019-2 are no longer in effect and that Opinion Letter FLSA2018-27 is also withdrawn. Employers in tipped industries should review current tip-credit practices against the 2021 Dual Jobs rule rather than the withdrawn letters. Workers in tipped trades retain the right to the full minimum wage for hours that do not qualify for the tip credit under the current rule. Field assistance bulletins are WHD guidance documents that explain how the agency enforces the laws under its jurisdiction; they do not themselves create new legal obligations.