Federal Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from the U.S. Department of Labor, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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When metal castings need hazard data sheets
A senator asked whether metal castings were exempt as articles under OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA said they normally could be, but not when expected downstream work would release hazardous…
Broker margin loans under PTE 75-1
EBSA said broker credit for a plan’s margin purchase of securities met the securities-transaction condition of PTE 75-1 Part V, subject to all other exemption conditions. The exemption also covered…
Lift trucks and hazard communication labels
A truck company asked whether lift trucks or their components needed hazard labels and data sheets. OSHA said a lift truck was a machine rather than a chemical container, so component labels and a…
Hazard evaluation for products with methylene chloride
A ribbon manufacturer asked how the hazard communication rule applied to residual methylene chloride in its product. In a March 7 reply reproduced on the page, OSHA discussed when a material safety…
Crane rule coverage for crawler tampers
A company asked whether the construction crane rule applied to two crawler machines used only as tampers. OSHA said the cited rule did not apply if the machines could only function as tampers, but…
Monitoring inspections during long abatement periods
An OSHA regional administrator directed field staff on monitoring employers with long abatement plans or extended deadlines. The memo said cases with abatement periods beyond six months should…
Metal products and the hazard communication article exemption
A senator asked whether a metal-products maker had to provide hazard information for copper and aluminum products. OSHA said sheets and shipment labels were required if normal downstream use could…
OSHA and Coast Guard authority over lift-boat workers
The National Transportation Safety Board urged OSHA to regulate safety equipment on self-elevating lift boats. OSHA said the Coast Guard intended to classify the boats as inspected vessels, giving…
District of Columbia claimant-hearing conformity decision
ETA reported the Secretary’s decision that D.C. unemployment hearing rules concerning employer nonappearance conformed with federal fair-hearing requirements. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Foundry castings and the hazard communication rule
A senator asked whether foundry castings were always covered by OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA said many castings could qualify as exempt articles, but that depended on normal use. If…
Carbon monoxide controls for supplied breathing air
An equipment seller asked about alarms and carbon monoxide checks for oil-lubricated compressors supplying breathing air, and about respirators for isocyanate spray products. OSHA said its rule did…
Real estate fund transactions and fiduciary conflicts
EBSA found Ironwood was not a party in interest to the described plan on the stated facts, while a management company serving the fund was a party in interest. Mr. Jones’s fiduciary status and…
Ground fault protection for construction extension cords
A requester asked whether extension cords powering tools from permanent building outlets needed ground fault protection. OSHA said the permanent outlet itself did not require a GFCI under the cited…
Competent and qualified persons for excavation work
A regional administrator asked how the competent-person and qualified-person definitions applied to excavation work. OSHA said a competent person needed hazard recognition ability and authority to…
Leaking ether systems and open-vessel rules
An OSHA regional office asked whether a chemical process designed as closed still met the rule when seals and packings leaked. OSHA said the actual releases made the system an open-vessel system…
Federal employee representatives in hazard-abatement meetings
A postal workers' union asked for a right to attend every federal workplace hazard-abatement meeting. OSHA said the federal safety rules did not create that automatic right. They did require…
Double-insulated sewing machines and grounding
A sewing-machine company asked whether double insulation was acceptable instead of grounding for machines used in schools. OSHA said it did not enforce its standards in the school or municipal…
Housing Authority union training fund as governmental
EBSA said a union training fund covering only Housing Authority employees and funded solely by the authority was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title I. Participants or contributions from…
Trust-funded welfare plan annual reporting exemption
EBSA said ACE Auto Parts’ welfare plan could not use a limited annual-reporting exemption because benefits and premiums passed through a trust with assets and liabilities beyond insurance contracts…
Welding-wire safety data sheets
A welding-wire manufacturer questioned the hazard communication paperwork for its product. OSHA said the manufacturer's own material safety data sheet showed hazardous ingredients that could affect…
Work relief and work-training coverage under FUTA
ETA interpreted the FUTA exception for services performed in certain work-relief or work-training programs and its effect on state unemployment coverage. Current status is unconfirmed.
Floor edge guarding after steel assembly
A contractor challenged a guardrail citation while concrete was being poured on metal decking. OSHA said that after structural steel assembly, when other trades were working on the floor, the…
Forward travel of powered industrial trucks
A plant manager sought a variance from OSHA’s powered industrial truck travel rule. OSHA said the rule did not bar forward travel when the driver’s view was unobstructed, and denied the variance…
Lead medical removal when an employee changes jobs
A physician asked what lead-removal duties applied when a worker left one employer while recovering from a high blood-lead level and joined another. OSHA said the former employer did not have to…
1985 budget-control act effects on unemployment programs
ETA explained how the 1985 federal budget-control statute affected unemployment programs, including extended-benefit financing and suggested state legislation. Current status is unconfirmed.
New Jersey builders insurance trust and ERISA status
EBSA said the New Jersey Builders Association insurance trust was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because the association was not a qualifying employer group and did not control the trust. Adopting…
St. Louis police relief program as governmental
EBSA said a St. Louis police relief association’s benefit program was a governmental plan on the stated statutory creation, public funding, public-employee coverage and governance facts. The opinion…
Milwaukee firefighter death benefits as governmental
EBSA said the Milwaukee Firemen Relief Association death-benefit program was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title I because state and city law authorized it, coverage was limited to public…
OSHA standards for video display workplaces
A foreign embassy asked whether OSHA tested video display units or had criteria for their workplace use. OSHA said it did not approve or test products and had issued no required standards or…
School-term UCFE and UCX eligibility
ETA clarified when state between- and within-term denial rules may apply to federal civilian and military employees of federally operated schools. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Hazard data-sheet entries and nuisance-dust guidance
OSHA answered a regional office's hazard communication inspection questions. It said data sheets should include available exposure and overexposure information, and a positive carcinogenicity study…
Hazard evaluation of chemicals formed in a mixture
A chemical company asked how to evaluate hazards when ingredients react to form new chemicals. OSHA said newly formed substances had to be evaluated as new chemical entities. If the reaction was…
OSHA standards on meal and rest breaks for truck drivers
A senator asked whether OSHA required lunch or rest breaks for a truck driver. OSHA said it had issued no general break standard and pointed to separate motor-carrier work-hour rules and a…
ERISA preemption and state taxation of 401(k) deferrals
EBSA said a state law defining an individual’s taxable income to include 401(k) elective deferrals did not relate to an ERISA plan in the preemption sense and was not preempted, where it neither…
Convent retirement income plan as church plan
EBSA said the retirement income plan for Sisters of St. Joseph convent employees was a church plan excluded from ERISA Title I on the submitted religious-affiliation and plan facts. The opinion…
Tetrahydrofuran exposure in Navy-contract coating work
A senator relayed a contractor's concern that a Navy coating specification exposed rope-sling workers to tetrahydrofuran. OSHA said it could not compel a contract change, but employers had to keep…
Nuisance particulates, sugar dust and hazard communication
A senator asked how OSHA's hazard communication rule applied to sugar and other nuisance dusts. OSHA said missing hazard information for a dust with no other discernible hazard would be treated as…
Hazard communication coverage of metal fabrications
A metal fabricator asked whether steel and aluminum products automatically needed hazard labels and data sheets. OSHA said the manufacturer had to assess normal use and possible worker exposure. A…
Merion Mercy Academy pension plan as church plan
EBSA said Merion Mercy Academy’s defined benefit plan was a church plan excluded from ERISA Title I on the submitted facts about the Catholic order, school and plan. The opinion concerns that pension plan.
Computer access to material safety data sheets
A law firm asked whether an employer could keep material safety data sheets in a computer database. OSHA said the format was acceptable if employees could get the sheets readily in their work area…
Sponsor-paid affiliated investment management fees
EBSA said trustees’ initial selection of an affiliate investment manager did not itself violate specified self-dealing rules if the sponsor alone paid its fees and the plan had no liability.…
Temporary lighting and wiring at construction sites
A construction company asked how electrical codes and temporary lighting rules applied at its jobsites. OSHA said specific construction rules took precedence where they changed referenced codes,…
Imported chemical labels and shrink-wrapped stock
A chemical importer asked when imported containers needed hazard labels and whether one outside label could cover shrink-wrapped bags. OSHA said imported materials should be labeled as soon as…
Plan reimbursement of direct administration expenses
EBSA said a plan’s reimbursement of direct administrative expenses to its sponsor would not by itself violate the cited self-dealing rule if expenses were proper and services met exemption…
Revised unemployment quality-control design
ETA announced revisions to the unemployment quality-control program after the Secretary’s review, including sampling and state operations changes. Current status is unconfirmed.
Collective trust with unaffiliated investment manager
EBSA said investments in the described collective trust and the adviser’s services would not by themselves violate the cited self-dealing rule where neither the adviser nor trust company used…
North Dakota dealers insurance trust and ERISA plans
EBSA said the dealers insurance trust was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because its sponsoring associations did not qualify as employer groups. Each subscribing employer maintained a separate…
Trade secrets in material safety data sheets
A chemical product company asked how to describe proprietary ingredients on material safety data sheets. OSHA said supported trade secret claims could conceal a chemical’s specific identity, while…
Compressed air pressure for cleaning
A museum asked for a permanent variance to use compressed air above 30 psi while cleaning objects. OSHA explained that the outlet could have higher flowing pressure if a relief device reduced…
Lifetime appointment of a pension trustee
EBSA said plan fiduciaries could not rely on a provision purporting to give a pension trustee a lifetime appointment, because it conflicted with ERISA fiduciary principles and oversight. Reasonable…
Hazard labels for tank trucks and rail cars
A petroleum company asked whether tank trucks and rail cars needed hazard labels. OSHA said both are containers under the hazard communication standard. A label can accompany the bill of lading…
Participant-directed pension payments to a welfare plan
EBSA said participant-directed transfers of pension amounts otherwise payable to beneficiaries into a welfare plan did not themselves violate the cited prohibited-transaction rules. The pension…
Facial hair and respirator face seals
A question about respirator use by a volunteer firefighter prompted OSHA to explain that facial hair is allowed only when it does not interfere with a required respirator seal or the device’s…
Foundry castings and the hazard communication article exemption
A foundry asked whether iron castings were exempt as articles under the hazard communication standard. OSHA said the manufacturer must assess normal use: welding or grinding can produce hazardous…
Audit requirement for a short pension plan year
EBSA said the Rochester Button pension plan needed an independent accountant’s report for its short 1984 plan year because it began with more than 100 participants and undistributed assets. A…
Use of older approved gas mask canisters
OSHA considered whether older Bureau of Mines approved canisters could still protect workers from hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, and phosphine. It said uncertain performance and inadequate…
Bureau of Mines gas mask canisters for toxic gases
OSHA reviewed older Bureau of Mines gas mask canisters for hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, and phosphine. It said uncertainty about their tested performance and inadequate warning properties…
Mercury vapor cartridges mounted on half-mask respirators
OSHA evaluated a mercury vapor cartridge whose service-life indicator was normally visible when belt mounted. It accepted face mounting on a specified half mask if use stayed within ten times the…
Steel cable guardrails around floor edges
A developer asked whether steel cable could serve as top and intermediate rails around a floor edge. OSHA said the proposed system might comply if the cables were taut, secured and met the stated…
Recreation facility outside ERISA vacation benefit
EBSA said use of a trustee-owned recreation and vacation facility was not a vacation benefit or another listed ERISA welfare benefit. So long as that was the trust’s only benefit, it was not an…
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These are official interpretive documents from the U.S. Department of Labor: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.