[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 29, Volume 3] [Revised as of July 1, 2006] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 29CFR780.808] [Page 572] TITLE 29--LABOR CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PART 780_EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT--Table of Contents Subpart I_Employment in Ginning of Cotton and Processing of Sugar Beets, Sugar-Beet Molasses, Sugarcane, or Maple Sap into Sugar or Syrup; Exemption From Overtime Pay Requirements Under Section 13(b)(15) Sec. 780.808 Who may qualify for the exemption generally. The exemption applies to ``any employee engaged in'' ginning of cotton. This means that the exemption may apply to an employee so engaged, no matter by whom he is employed. Employees of the gin operator, of an independent contractor, or of a farmer may come within the exemption in any workweek when all other conditions of the exemption are met. To come within the exemption, however, an employee's work must be an integral part of ginning of cotton, as previously described. The courts have uniformly held that exemptions in the Act must be construed strictly to carry out the purpose of the Act. (See Sec. 780.2, in subpart A of this part.) No operation in which an employee engages in a place of employment where cotton is ginned is exempt unless it comes within the meaning of the term ``ginning.''