29 CFR § 780.409 - Employment “in connection with the operation or maintenance” is exempt.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t29/s780.409"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "29 CFR § 780.409 - Employment “in connection with the operation or maintenance” is exempt."
title_number: 29
title_name: "Labor"
section_number: "780.409"
section_name: "Employment “in connection with the operation or maintenance” is exempt."
chapter_name: "WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "STATEMENTS OF GENERAL POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS"
part_number: "780"
part_name: "EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "Secs. 1-19, 52 Stat. 1060, as amended; 75 Stat. 65; 29 U.S.C. 201-219. Pub. L. 105-78, 111 Stat. 1467."
regulatory_source: "37 FR 12084, June 17, 1972, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "780"
---
# 780.409 Employment “in connection with the operation or maintenance” is exempt.
The irrigation exemption provided by section 13(b)(12) applies to “any employee employed * * * in connection with the operation or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways” of an irrigation system which qualifies for the exemption. The employee, to be exempt, must be employed “in connection with the operation or maintenance” of the named facilities; other employees of the irrigation system, not employed in connection with the named activities, are not exempt. The exemption may apply to employees engaged in insect, rodent, and weed control along the canals and waterways of the irrigation system.