Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452 (1997)
Auer v. Robbins is a cornerstone of modern administrative law because it crystallizes the principle that courts generally defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of its own ambiguous regulations.
Whether the police sergeants and lieutenant were paid on a "salary basis" for purposes of the FLSA exemption—and, in deciding that question, whether the court should defer to the Department of Labor's interpretation of its own salary-basis regulation concerning when pay is "subject to" reduction.
Under Seminole Rock/Auer deference, an agency's interpretation of its own ambiguous regulation is controlling unless plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation. Applied to the DOL's salary-basis rule, an employee's pay is not deemed "subject to" reduction merely because a policy could theoretically allow deductions; the salary-basis test is defeated only if there is either (1) an actual practice of making such deductions, or (2) a clear and particularized policy—one that effectively communicates that deductions will be made in specified circumstances—creating a significant likelihood of such deductions. Budgetary, across-the-board furloughs do not defeat the salary-basis test.
The Court deferred to the DOL's interpretation of its salary-basis regulation and held that petitioners were paid on a salary basis. Because there was no actual practice of disciplinary deductions and no clear and particularized policy effectively communicating that pay would be docked in specified circumstances, the exemption applied. The judgment for the City was affirmed.
Auer is the leading case on judicial deference to an agency's interpretation of its own regulation, often cited together with Bowles v. Seminole Rock. It instructs courts to defer to an agency's reasonable reading of ambiguous regulatory text, even when the interpretation appears in formats short of formal rulemaking, so long as it reflects the agency's fair and considered judgment and is not plainly inconsistent with the regulation. In practice, Auer significantly affects administrative litigation strategy—agencies often defend rules by explaining them in briefs, while challengers argue lack of ambiguity, inconsistency, or unfair surprise. For FLSA and employment law, Auer clarifies the salary-basis test by distinguishing theoretical from actual or clearly communicated pay docking. More broadly, the decision set the stage for later refinements in Kisor v. Wilkie (2019), which narrowed but did not overrule Auer by requiring a rigorous threshold inquiry into genuine ambiguity, reasoned expertise-based interpretation, and fair-notice constraints.