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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ERISA preemption of California medical-information law
The Labor Department said ERISA preempted California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act to the extent it required compliance by the described ERISA welfare funds. The funds processed…
Insurance marketers’ association outside ERISA coverage
The Labor Department said the Common Market Employee Benefit Association’s health program was not an ERISA welfare plan during its 1975–1977 operation. Members lacked meaningful control and a common…
Protective clothing for foundry iron pouring
A foundry asked about protective clothing for workers handling molten iron. OSHA said employers could be cited for allowing workers to pour without upper-body protective clothing because of severe…
Manufacturer approval for forklift fork extensions
OSHA wrote a fork extension seller about advertising the product for forklifts. It said extensions could affect truck stability and capacity, and users needed the forklift manufacturer’s prior…
Trustee per diem compensation and expense reimbursement
The Labor Department said an eligible trustee could receive reasonable daily compensation, but a plan could not use a flat per diem as reimbursement for expenses that might exceed actual costs. It…
Kobacker store sale and leaseback to profit-sharing plan
The Labor Department declined to determine whether Kobacker’s proposed sale and leaseback of six shoe stores met factual conditions for an ERISA prohibited-transaction exemption. It said the plan…
Diamond stock as qualifying employer security
The Labor Department said Diamond International was an affiliate of the Escher Wyss Manchester joint venture on the represented ownership and control facts. Diamond common stock therefore was a…
Tunnel rules for cut-and-cover subway stations
A subway project asked how OSHA applied tunnel rules to cut-and-cover work. OSHA said underground stations were not always tunnels, but tunnel standards applied when a temporary or permanent cover…
Toeboards, guardrails, and planks on tank-erection scaffolds
A tank construction contractor requested a scaffold variance. OSHA said toeboards were unnecessary in isolated work without overhead exposure if tools were contained and areas below barricaded. It…
Scaffold toeboards, rails, and planking for tank erection
A tank erector requested a variance from scaffold toeboard, rail, and planking provisions. OSHA described limited isolated jobs where toeboards were unnecessary if workers faced no overhead hazard…
Medical make-up pay as an ERISA payroll practice
The Labor Department said ESB’s medical make-up pay after disability, job transfer or workers’ compensation could be a payroll practice outside ERISA welfare-plan coverage. The payments had to come…
Retirement association as insurer and investment manager
The Labor Department said the National Health and Welfare Retirement Association qualified as an insurance company for the cited ERISA investment-manager definition and as a state-supervised carrier…
Thiokol pension plan denied insured-plan audit exemption
The Labor Department said Thiokol’s retirement plan did not qualify for the cited exemption from hiring an independent accountant. Its annuity arrangements did not fully guarantee benefits for all…
Thiokol Louisiana pension plans and audit exemption
The Labor Department said two Thiokol pension plans at the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant could not use the insured-plan exemption from hiring an independent accountant. Their annuity contracts did…
Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority pension plan
The Labor Department said the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority pension plan was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA title I. Joint administration with unions and limited benefits for former…
ERISA coverage of Virgin Islands Keogh plan
The Labor Department said a Keogh plan was not outside ERISA title I merely because its employer was in the U.S. Virgin Islands. ERISA’s definition of the United States includes the Virgin Islands,…
Powder River stock sale under temporary ERISA relief
The Labor Department said a plan’s proposed sale of Powder River stock to Phillips Petroleum could fall within ERISA’s transitional relief if the plan held control and all statutory conditions were…
Filing time for partial-unemployment claims
ETA interpreted the minimum time states must allow a claimant to file for a week of partial unemployment. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
New York approval of insurer retirement plans
The Labor Department said New York’s requirement that its insurance regulator approve domestic life insurers’ retirement plans was, on its face, an insurance law saved from ERISA preemption. It…
Soil stability and sloping in trench excavation
An insurer asked a regional OSHA office how to classify soil and measure trench slopes. The office explained its view of unstable and compact soil, slope angles, and benching, while saying soil…
Training and restraints for multi-piece rim wheels
An employers' group asked eight questions about OSHA's then-new multi-piece rim wheel servicing rule. OSHA explained which wheels and tasks it covered, who needed training, when experienced…
Conrail employee stock plan and CEC preferred stock
The Labor Department said Conrail’s proposed plan was an eligible individual account plan and that its affiliate’s preferred stock was a qualifying employer security, allowing the plan to hold all…
Teamsters health fund coverage under ERISA and WPPDA
The Labor Department said the Central States Teamsters health and welfare fund was covered by ERISA title I and had been covered by the predecessor Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act. It found…
McDonnell Douglas sick leave as payroll practice
The Labor Department said two McDonnell Douglas sick-leave plans were not ERISA welfare plans on the described facts. They paid short-term disability income from the employer’s general assets,…
Crocker Bank retiree supplements and pension-plan status
The Labor Department could not assure Crocker National Bank that its 1978 retiree supplements were outside ERISA pension-plan coverage because they did not meet the cited regulation or later agency…
Temporary string lighting at construction sites
A lighting manufacturer asked whether construction string lights fell under a hand-held lamp rule. OSHA said that provision addressed portable hand-held lamps, while general temporary lighting had…
Plan purchase of financing-company notes and related lending
The Labor Department said a plan’s purchase of Financial Management Services notes was not a direct loan to a party in interest, and later lending by that company to the employer was not an indirect…
RETA church-affiliated health trust and ERISA status
The Labor Department could not decide whether the RETA health trust was an ERISA welfare plan because the submitted facts left employer control and possible insurance marketing unresolved. It…
Reverse signal alarms on construction vehicles
An alarm maker asked about backup alarm rules. OSHA said general industry had no comparable requirement at the time, while construction vehicles with obstructed rear views needed an audible reverse…
Small Business Independent Trades health trust status
The Labor Department said the Small Business Independent Trades Association health trust was not itself an ERISA welfare plan because the association did not function as a bona fide employer group.…
Garnishment of vacation fund for child support
The Labor Department said ERISA did not prevent garnishment of the described Laborers’ vacation and holiday fund for child support arrears. It addressed the fund and a family-support order as…
Black & Decker disability plan as ERISA welfare plan
The Labor Department said Black & Decker’s disability plan was an ERISA welfare plan and therefore an employee benefit plan for the cited statutory provisions. As a welfare plan it was exempt from…
Torrington severance program as pension plan
The Labor Department said Torrington’s proposed severance program was an ERISA pension plan because benefits tied ten years of service to age 55, the pension plan’s early-retirement age. That made…
Slings versus crane hoist lines
A safety consultant asked what counts as a sling under OSHA’s rule. OSHA said a sling is an accessory connecting the load to a lifting hook; a rope, wire rope, or chain attached to the hoist drum is…
Metropolitan Transit Authority union pension plan
The Labor Department said the Metropolitan Transit Authority union pension plan was a governmental plan outside ERISA title I. It treated the Texas authority as a government agency or…
Fall restraint on narrow billboard platforms
A billboard company asked whether a safety belt, four-foot lanyard, and low safety line adequately protected workers on a narrow elevated platform. OSHA said the described setup did not meet the…
East-West Center pension and welfare plans
The Labor Department said the East-West Center corporation was a federal or Hawaii government agency or instrumentality for ERISA purposes despite contrary state-law wording. Its two retirement…
Black & Decker dental plan as ERISA welfare plan
The Labor Department said Black & Decker’s dental assistance plan was an ERISA welfare plan because dental care was a covered medical benefit. The plan therefore was an employee benefit plan for the…
Metal tool hooks on linemen body belts
A utility asked whether a slip-on tool hook could be used on a lineman’s body belt. OSHA’s regional office said its interim view was that exposed metal against the wearer violated the belt…
Chrysler-UAW pension investment recommendations
The Labor Department said Chrysler and UAW could set up a committee to recommend mortgage and community investments to pension trustees without, by itself, violating ERISA fiduciary rules. Trustees…
School and nonschool wages between academic terms
ETA instructed states how to calculate between-term benefits when a claimant has both school and nonschool wage credits. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Notice to participants of plan trustee name change
The Labor Department said a pension plan trustee’s name change had to be reported to participants and beneficiaries and filed with the agency because trustee names belonged in the summary plan…
Alexander’s employee bond purchase plans
The Labor Department said Alexander’s existing employee bond purchase plans were ERISA pension plans by their stated retirement purpose, while the proposed consolidated plan might also be a pension…
Prototype plan commissions and prohibited transactions
The Labor Department said a class exemption did not cover certain insurance and fund sales commissions to Cannon and PRO Services where their affiliate administered the plans. For a participant who…
MCA restricted stock incentive plan and pension status
The Labor Department said MCA’s restricted stock awards might constitute an ERISA pension plan because employees could not realize much of the stock’s value until restrictions lapsed, sometimes…
Central States investment-manager fees and contract
The Labor Department said pension trustees had a continuing duty to pay no more than reasonable investment-manager compensation. On the submitted facts it found no basis to call Victor Palmieri and…
Correction to agricultural and domestic service coverage
ETA corrected examples in its guidance on required unemployment coverage of agricultural and domestic work performed for governments or nonprofits. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Cable jib stops and prohibited belly slings
An OSHA regional office asked whether a cable device on a crane jib was a prohibited belly sling. OSHA said loose cables hung from temporary attachment points were prohibited, while an engineered,…
Termination of painters’ health and apprenticeship trusts
The Labor Department said the terminating welfare trusts could distribute remaining assets by any of the proposed methods that their trustees found best served each trust’s purposes. Direct…
Harvard as trustee of its pension plan trusts
The Labor Department said Harvard’s appointment as trustee of its pension and group trusts was not itself prohibited. Unpaid trustee services could qualify for a statutory exemption if necessary and…
IBEW Local 9 welfare plan reporting exemption
The Labor Department said Local 9’s bylaws could not substitute for its welfare plans’ summary plan descriptions because they did not accurately state that assets could be reached by general…
ERISA coverage of eleven Local 478 benefit plans
The Labor Department found that eleven Local 478 and Tenco pension and welfare plans were covered by ERISA title I and had been covered by the predecessor Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act.…
Baltimore municipal employee association insurance trust under ERISA
A Baltimore municipal employee association asked whether the insurance programs in its trust were covered by ERISA. The Department said the association controlled and endorsed the programs, so the…
Maryland employee association insurance trust under ERISA
The Labor Department said the Maryland Classified Employees Association’s insurance trust was an ERISA welfare plan subject to title I reporting and disclosure. The association controlled and…
Barricades for rotating crane swing radius
A utility contractors association asked about barricading the swing radius of a rotating crane. OSHA said a barricade was required where workers could be crushed between the crane and nearby…
Seat belt rule for construction forklifts
A lift truck engineer asked whether the construction seat belt rule applied to forklifts. OSHA said section 1926.602 applied to forklift-type trucks on construction sites, including the types…
Maritime association vacation and pay guarantee benefits under ERISA
A maritime employer association asked the Department to reconsider ERISA coverage of its holiday and vacation benefits and to address its pay guarantee. The Department held that payments from the…
Pay for arsenic medical examinations outside work hours
An OSHA memo considered an employer’s failure to pay workers for time spent on required arsenic medical examinations. OSHA said the standard required exams without cost or loss of pay, including…
Cabarrus Memorial Hospital benefit plans as governmental plans
A North Carolina hospital asked whether four employee benefit programs were governmental plans exempt from ERISA Title I. The Department found that the hospital was a county agency or…
Miami elevator constructors union trust as an ERISA pension plan
An elevator constructors union asked whether its trust was an ERISA pension plan and whether vesting and termination asset rules applied. The Department said the union maintained an ERISA pension…
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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.