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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Union wage-supplement fund and unemployment benefits
EBSA said a proposed IBEW wage-supplement fund appeared not to provide unemployment benefits under ERISA’s welfare-plan definition, assuming members worked full-time in their usual trade under the…
Drilling near loaded blast holes
A regional administrator asked OSHA to clarify how close drilling could take place to loaded blast holes. OSHA concluded that drill machines counted as equipment under the cited construction rule…
Autobody association insurance and separate employer plans
EBSA said the California Autobody Association did not act as a qualifying employer group for its nonvoting associate members, so each associate employer adopting coverage created its own ERISA plan.…
Electrical labor-management committee outside ERISA plan status
EBSA said the Southern California IBEW-NECA labor-management cooperation committee was not an ERISA welfare plan because it provided no benefit to participants or beneficiaries under the cited…
Kentucky spouse-acknowledgment law preempted for ERISA plans
EBSA said a Kentucky law requiring employers to provide forms for a spouse to sign acknowledgment of an election against a joint and survivor annuity or selection of another beneficiary was…
Wake County medical trust as governmental plan
EBSA said Wake County’s medical benefits trust was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title I because the county established and maintained it for its workers and retirees. The opinion concerns…
Redrilling seismic shotholes to protect groundwater
A regional administrator asked whether previously loaded seismic shotholes could be redrilled so they could be plugged against groundwater contamination. OSHA said remote drilling with the operator…
Narragansett Bay employee pension as governmental
EBSA said the Narragansett Bay Commission’s simplified employee pension for its nonclassified workers was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title I. The conclusion rests on the Commission’s…
Facial hair and tight-fitting respirator seals
A union member asked whether OSHA banned facial hair for respirator users. OSHA said facial hair is acceptable outside the sealing area, but hair under the seal of a required tight-fitting…
1984 deficit reduction act changes to UI
ETA explained 1984 federal amendments concerning tips, fishing work, and income and eligibility verification in the unemployment program. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Review of a worker's radiation exposure record
A former worker asked whether earlier radiation exposure might explain later health symptoms. OSHA compared the supplied 1974 dose record with its then-applicable quarterly whole-body limit and said…
When foot protection is required
An attorney asked OSHA when workers must wear safety shoes. OSHA said the rule turns on the hazards of the worker's activity and environment, such as objects likely to fall or be dropped on the…
Trench depth and sheeting under Table P-2
An Arizona safety official asked how Table P-2 applied to a 20-foot trench. OSHA said the full depth called for closed sheeting rather than the shallower-depth criteria, but sloping or benching the…
Southern Pacific parent shares as qualifying employer securities
EBSA said SFSP shares held by the Southern Pacific employee plan were qualifying employer securities because SFSP was an affiliate of Southern Pacific, an employer of covered participants. It relied…
Fall protection under OSHA Instruction STD 3-3.1
A Nevada safety official sought an interpretation of OSHA Instruction STD 3-3.1. OSHA said its construction fall-protection provision should be cited for falls over 25 feet and that any device…
Retractable safety blocks and lifeline rules
An aerospace company asked whether a retractable steel-wire safety block met OSHA's construction lifeline rule. OSHA said the cited provision did not specifically regulate manufacture of such…
Hazard communication labels for tanks and mixtures
A chemical supplier asked OSHA about labels for stationary tanks, filled containers and mixtures, plus required information on material safety data sheets. OSHA described when written warnings could…
Waste anesthetic gas exposure and controls
A worker asked OSHA about health risks from waste anesthetic gases, especially halothane. OSHA summarized the evidence available in 1984, cited NIOSH's recommended exposure levels, and discussed…
Citing construction eye and face protection violations
OSHA instructed regional administrators how inspectors should cite construction employers when workers did not use required eye or face protection. The memo said the provision requiring protective…
Two lithographers pension funds treated as separate plans
EBSA said the Local One and ALA lithographic pension funds appeared to be separate ERISA pension plans rather than one plan. They had different establishing parties and no shown pooling of assets or…
Hazard communication and classified defense information
A defense contractor asked how OSHA's hazard communication rule interacted with Defense Department rules protecting classified information. OSHA said the two systems were generally compatible and…
Steel erection fall protection enforcement
An OSHA construction official analyzed which fall-protection rule could be cited for steel erectors after Review Commission decisions limited use of a general construction rule. The memo…
Machine shop ventilation and power press safeguards
A worker asked which OSHA rules covered machine shop ventilation and punch-press safeguards. OSHA pointed to the general industry standards, said ventilation design depended on site conditions, and…
Crane instability and outrigger breakaway
A crane consultant asked OSHA how its construction crane rule defined the point of instability. OSHA said any breakaway of an outrigger would move the crane from stability to instability and noted…
Grounding during distribution line stringing
A utility asked OSHA whether its proposed power-line stringing and grounding setup met construction electrical rules. OSHA said the drawings generally appeared compliant, but a stringing roller used…
Daily audiometer checks using a bioacoustic simulator
An electronics company asked whether its bioacoustic simulator could perform the daily functional check required for audiometers under OSHA's occupational noise rule. OSHA said it did not approve…
Employer stock IRA's conditional pension-plan status
EBSA said the stock-focused IRA as then drafted excluded Southern Company employees and was not an ERISA pension plan. If employees of Southern and its affiliates were permitted to participate,…
Material safety data sheets for noninteracting mixtures
A chemical company asked whether it could provide a cover sheet and separate component material safety data sheets for a mixture of chemicals that did not interact. OSHA said that approach was…
Voluntary health insurance for UI claimants
ETA explained criteria for voluntary state health-insurance programs funded by deductions from eligible claimants’ unemployment benefits. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Ground-fault protection for construction extension cords
A National Electrical Code engineer asked whether extension cords connected to permanent wiring on construction sites needed ground-fault protection when they powered portable hand tools. OSHA said…
Riding vertical reciprocating conveyors
A state elevator inspector asked whether a vertical reciprocating conveyor with a rideable platform should be treated like an elevator. OSHA said such conveyors were for materials rather than people…
High visibility vests as personal protective equipment
A construction industry representative asked whether an orange work vest counts as personal protective equipment under OSHA's construction rule. Reconsidering its earlier view, OSHA concluded that…
Mortgage-pool exemption for short-term loans
EBSA said Bank of America mortgage pools containing the described renewable short-term loans could qualify for PTE 83-1 if all other conditions were met; semiannual interest pass-through did not…
Iron County infirmary life insurance as governmental plan
EBSA said the Iron County infirmary’s employee life-insurance program was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA Title I. It relied on the county’s funding, appointment of board members and control…
Fall protection during shipyard scaffold work
A Navy shipyard asked whether workers erecting, dismantling, or altering scaffolds over five feet high must stay tied off at all times. OSHA said its rule did not require continuous attachment…
REGIT insurance program outside ERISA plan status
EBSA said moving the Realtors Group Insurance Trust program to REGIT did not make the common program itself an ERISA welfare plan. An employer adopting the coverage for its own workers would be…
Affiliated insurance agents and commission exemption
EBSA said insurance agencies contributing to the Wetterau group plan for their employees could count as maintaining that plan under PTE 79-60 even though affiliates also contributed. Their sales of…
Standards applicable to hydraulic truck cranes
An OSHA regional administrator asked how construction crane standards apply to hydraulic truck cranes. OSHA said its truck crane rule covers them, with a hydraulic crane standard addressing them…
Florida health-care trust and employer-group status
EBSA said the Florida Health Care Association itself did not control the trust and therefore was not the employer group maintaining it. EBSA declined to decide the fact-dependent question whether…
Employer purchase option in pre-ERISA plan lease
EBSA said a pre-ERISA lease option price could be considered in valuing plan real estate for a sale to the employer only if the lease and option met the applicable arm’s-length and ERISA conditions.…
Foreclosed real estate under pre-ERISA contract
EBSA said real-estate interests acquired in a 1982 foreclosure on pre-1974 secured mortgages were held under a binding contract in effect July 1, 1974 for the cited ERISA transition rule. The…
Revolving cup guards and threaded bushings on grinding wheels
A grinding wheel industry group asked whether threaded bushings could count as guards. OSHA said its standard still permitted revolving cup guards, and an integral bushing could qualify if its…
Retracting lifelines and construction fall protection
A fall protection device maker asked whether its retracting lifeline met OSHA requirements. OSHA said a 3,000-pound break strength would be satisfactory if the device functioned as described in the…
Puerto Rico insurance regulation of union benefit plans
EBSA said the cited Puerto Rico Insurance Code provisions were preempted when applied to collectively bargained welfare plans covered by ERISA Title I. Insurance policies sold to plans could still…
Armco IRA payroll deductions and pension plan status
EBSA said Armco’s payroll deduction IRA program would not become an ERISA pension plan merely because it offered two IRA products, including one sponsored by an affiliate. It declined to decide…
Timber producers health program outside ERISA plan status
EBSA said the Minnesota Timber Producers Association’s group health program was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because the association did not qualify as the employer or employee organization…
Central States medical trust outside ERISA plan status
EBSA said the Central States Region medical trust and plan were not themselves ERISA welfare plans because no qualifying employer or employee organization established them. Adopting employers or…
Perimeter railings during steel deck installation
OSHA told regional administrators when perimeter railings must be installed as temporary steel decking progresses and why typical synthetic or fiber rope was not equal to wire rope for that purpose.…
Perforated eardrums and SCBA in hydrogen sulfide
An OSHA regional office asked whether workers with perforated eardrums could use positive-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus around hydrogen sulfide. OSHA’s medical office said the…
California mechanics liens for plan contributions preempted
EBSA agreed with a district court that California mechanics-lien provisions were preempted insofar as they let ERISA-covered benefit plans foreclose on real property to collect employer…
Equivalent protection from UL-TEMA safety eyewear
An eyewear manufacturer asked whether its UL-TEMA 7800 Series product could be used even though it did not meet every requirement of the ANSI standard referenced by OSHA's eye protection rule. OSHA…
Pension suspension for work in a different industry
EBSA could not conclude that a bricklayers pension plan could suspend a retiree’s benefits for work at a Ford steel plant. The retiree may have been working in the same trade, but the submitted…
ERISA claim-file retention after records destroyed
EBSA said plan claim records needed for annual reports must be retained for six years, and the duty cannot be avoided by hiring an outside administrator. Lost files may need reconstruction when…
Puerto Rico wage-deduction rule preempted for ERISA plans
EBSA said Puerto Rico’s cited wage-deduction provision was preempted to the extent it regulated benefits under ERISA-covered plans. It also said the related criminal penalty was not a generally…
Sprinkler industry welfare fund and MEWA limits
EBSA said the National Automatic Sprinkler Industry Welfare Fund appeared to be an ERISA welfare plan established by unions and a qualifying employer association on the submitted…
DD Form 214 evidence for UCX eligibility
ETA explained how states should use DD Form 214 discharge information to support unemployment compensation for ex-servicemembers. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Master Employers dental trust outside ERISA plan status
EBSA said the Master Employers dental trust was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because no qualifying employer group or employee organization maintained it. Individual employers could create…
Catalytic heaters in spray booths and de minimis treatment
A heater maker asked whether its catalytic system complied with OSHA standards for spray booths. OSHA said the proposed arrangement did not meet the existing rule because it could increase booth…
Safety mats as machine guarding
A machinery company asked whether safety mats met OSHA machine guarding rules. OSHA said mats can supplement fixed guards, but reliance on mats alone requires a site-specific analysis of…
Fall protection citation for roofing operations
A steel erection company asked how OSHA's open-side floor rule applied to roofing operations in light of court and commission decisions. OSHA said that provision should not be cited for roofing…
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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.