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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New York savings bank pension limit and ERISA preemption
An attorney for a retired savings bank employee asked whether ERISA displaced a New York law capping his pension benefit. The Department said the cap regulated banking and was saved from ERISA…
Arsenic X-rays, respirator fit tests, and worker training
A physician asked several questions about OSHA’s arsenic standard. OSHA explained physician qualifications and X-ray classification, how fit factors interact with respirator selection, and why gas…
Rochester police association death benefit plan under ERISA
A Rochester police association asked whether its member death benefit program was an ERISA welfare plan or a governmental plan. The Department said the association was an employee organization and…
ANSI standards for scissor lifts and aerial devices
A lift maker asked which OSHA and ANSI standards applied to scissor lifts. OSHA said its aerial device rule referenced ANSI A92.2 for covered vehicle-mounted devices and that scissor lifts complying…
Grouted tunnel studs versus rock bolts
A tunnel contractor asked to use pull tests instead of torque tests on epoxy-grouted studs. OSHA said the studs were structurally and functionally different from rock bolts, so the cited rock-bolt…
FUTA pension deductions
ETA explained the pension deduction requirements of FUTA for state unemployment benefits. UIPL 22-87 later expressly rescinded this letter. The letter is withdrawn.
Legal services project benefit programs and employer control
A consultant retained to design benefit programs for legal services projects asked whether the life, medical, and dental programs were ERISA welfare plans. The Department said the organization was…
Community funded police benefit association outside ERISA
A township police benefit association asked whether its supplemental disability, death, and retirement program was covered by ERISA. The Department said the community funded association was neither…
Waiving recovery of nonfraud UI overpayments
ETA explained federal procedural requirements when state law permits waiver of recovery of nonfraud unemployment overpayments. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Agricultural and domestic service coverage
ETA explained when size-of-firm limits apply to agricultural and domestic work performed for governmental or nonprofit employers. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Employer stock sale from Kansas City Life savings plan
A life insurer asked whether its savings plan could sell company stock directly to the company. The Department said the sale to a party in interest was prohibited unless an exemption applied, and…
Hairpin guards on mechanical power presses
A manufacturer sought a variance for hairpin guards around power-press points of operation. OSHA said a fully enclosing, frame-mounted, adjustable guard that closed when tubing was removed could…
Benefit liability for reimbursing employers
ETA reported the Secretary’s decision on attributing benefit liability to reimbursing employers in Delaware, New Jersey and New York. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Mid Jersey Teamsters pension plan under ERISA and WPPDA
The request asked whether a collectively bargained Teamsters pension plan was covered by ERISA and the earlier Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act. The Department concluded that it met the…
St. Luke’s tax deferred annuity program as an ERISA pension plan
The request asked whether a hospital’s proposed tax deferred annuity program was subject to ERISA Title I. The Department said the employer would establish or maintain the program and that it did…
Guarding Kelly bushings on oil drilling rigs
An OSHA regional office asked when Kelly bushings on oil drilling rigs needed guards. OSHA said smooth bushings with no contact or entanglement hazard did not, while bushings with hazardous…
Recording lead-related medical removals
A company asked how lead-related medical removals fit OSHA's injury and illness log. OSHA said lead-standard removal records were separate, but removals tied to diagnosed illness or symptoms of lead…
Reversed polarity in electrical receptacles
An OSHA region asked how to cite receptacles wired with reversed polarity. OSHA said the incorporated 1971 electrical code required grounded conductors to be properly identified and barred using…
Totalcare prototype health plan and separate ERISA plans
A health plan developer asked whether its prototype Totalcare program was itself an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the prototype was not one plan; each qualifying employer or employee…
Sall Brothers pension trust asset allocation after pre ERISA termination
The request asked whether ERISA section 403(d)(1) required the Sall Brothers plan to allocate assets under section 4044. Relying on the represented facts and PBGC’s view that the plan terminated…
Steel banding as temporary guardrails
An OSHA regional office asked whether steel banding could serve as temporary guardrails. OSHA said alternate materials could meet the rule if they provided the required strength and protection,…
New York insurance law and savings bank retirement trust
The Labor Department said ERISA preempted New York Insurance Law section 200 as applied to the Savings Bank Retirement System. It treated the system as an ERISA plan arrangement that did not itself…
Multiemployer plan goods, loans, contributions, and reciprocity
In response to Exemption Application D-443, the Department addressed requests for interpretations and class exemptions concerning purchases, loans, contribution allocations, and benefit reciprocity…
Fairleigh Dickinson voluntary termination program as a pension plan
A university asked whether its voluntary termination program for tenured faculty was a severance plan outside ERISA pension coverage. The Department said benefits for faculty ages 60 to 65 who gave…
Annual profit sharing incentive payments outside ERISA
A company asked whether its annual cash incentive program was an ERISA benefit plan. The Department said annual payments for work performed were neither listed welfare benefits nor retirement income…
Canadian business travel accident plan under ERISA
A Canadian employer asked whether its business travel accident program was excluded from ERISA because it was maintained abroad primarily for nonresident aliens. The Department said roughly 1,900…
Local 734 pension and welfare funds under ERISA and WPPDA
The request asked whether two collectively bargained Local 734 funds were covered by ERISA and the earlier Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act. The Department found that both the pension and…
Abrasive-blasting breathing-air monitoring rule
An OSHA region asked which rule governed carbon monoxide monitoring for breathing air in abrasive blasting. OSHA said the more specific abrasive-blasting provision, section 1910.94(a)(6), took…
ANSI technical provisions for single-point scaffolds
An attorney asked whether a referenced ANSI powered platform standard could apply to temporary construction scaffolds despite the ANSI document's stated scope. OSHA said its construction rule…
Combustible-liquid drums under DOT specifications
A chemical product company asked about packaging combustible liquids in drums. OSHA said DOT did not specifically regulate the described quantities, but a metal container meeting DOT…
Helmets versus bump caps in sewer manholes
A sewer maintenance group asked to use bump caps instead of safety helmets. OSHA said workers entering manholes faced probable head injuries from bumps, cuts, and other hazards, so the cited…
Illinois marital decree and pension benefit assignment
A pension fund asked whether ERISA barred an Illinois divorce decree awarding a former spouse part of a participant’s future benefit. The Department said its then interpretation allowed an implied…
Michigan Timbermen benefit trust and employer association control
An association asked whether its health and life benefit trust avoided Michigan insurance regulation through ERISA. The Department declined to decide the plan’s status for voting regular members…
Fixed ladders in underground pumping chambers
A pump equipment designer asked about fixed ladders in underground chambers. A regional OSHA office said chamber walls could serve as ladder cages and described when a landing platform would be…
Church-school coverage findings in Alabama and Nevada
ETA reported its 1980 conformity findings about church-related school coverage in Alabama and Nevada; its underlying interpretation was later rejected in St. Martin. Current status is unconfirmed.
Mounting contact surfaces on abrasive grinding wheels
An OSHA regional memo circulated a headquarters reply about abrasive grinding wheels. It said the contact surface referenced by section 1910.215(d)(3) was the wheel’s mounting surface, not its…
Baldwin & Lyons pension plan employer stock divestiture
A pension plan asked whether it had to sell employer stock by December 31, 1979 under ERISA’s phased divestiture rule. Based on the stated stock value and a good faith actuarial estimate of future…
Class C and Class B hard hats on construction sites
A construction manager asked whether Class C hard hats were acceptable on heavy construction projects. OSHA said Class C helmets meeting the cited standard protected against falling and flying…
Steel bands as top and intermediate guardrails
A union asked whether steel bands could be used as top and intermediate rails. OSHA said alternate rail materials were allowed if they met strength and layout requirements, with exposed band edges…
Equivalent entities for chain and sling repairs
An attorney asked who could act as an equivalent entity for chain and sling repairs. OSHA said the organization needed equipment, knowledge, and skill equal to the manufacturer’s for the repair and…
Fiberglass spray-up under spray-finishing rules
A manufacturer asked whether fiberglass lay-up and spray-up were covered by OSHA’s spray-finishing standard. OSHA said a chopper gun accelerating resin and chopped fiberglass into a form was within…
Choosing protective footwear for foot hazards
A requester asked whether clip-on safety toe caps could be used at work. OSHA said employers had to assess foot injury hazards, require protection when employees faced those hazards, and choose…
Propane pre-heaters used during field welding
A steel construction company asked about propane pre-heaters used outdoors while erecting structures. OSHA said applicable construction welding gas provisions governed that use. The portable heater…
Defining a refinery's hazardous electrical location
An OSHA region asked where a refinery's Class I, Division II hazardous electrical location ended. OSHA said the National Electrical Code supplied performance criteria but no fixed distance, so…
New York transit union health trust as governmental plan
The Labor Department said the jointly administered New York transit authority union health plan was a governmental plan outside ERISA title I. It relied on the transit authorities’ public status,…
Guardrails beside pickling and galvanizing tanks
A galvanizing company requested a variance from open-sided platform guardrail rules. OSHA said the pickling tank sides met the height requirement and the galvanizing tank's ledge and wall gave…
Variable-tint lenses in safety eyewear
An OSHA region asked how to assess variable-tint lenses used as safety eyewear. OSHA said lenses failing the required drop test should be cited, and described other limits under the referenced ANSI…
Wet-well pump motors in hazardous locations
A pump maker asked whether a wastewater wet well should be treated as a Class I, Division 1 hazardous location. OSHA said the specified motor type is required if flammable gas concentrations may…
Fall protection on unfinished building floors
An attorney asked how the open-sided floor rule applied to unfinished building floors. OSHA said a floor that would later be covered by another level remained subject to the guardrail rule, unlike…
Insulating hydraulic tools for power-line work
A lawyer asked what OSHA meant by insulating fluid and nonconducting hoses in electric-line construction. OSHA said the fluid must not conduct electricity and the hose must meet the cited ANSI…
Head Start staff and between-term benefit denials
ETA explained that a school board’s Head Start staff may face the between-term benefit denial when the program is an integral part of the school system and the workers are school employees. The…
Pipe opening protection with a toeboard
An engineering company asked whether a pipe opening with a four-inch toeboard met OSHA's floor-hole rule. OSHA said the submitted design deviated technically from the rule but gave equivalent…
Compressed-air pressure for cleaning
A bakery asked how OSHA’s compressed-air cleaning instruction applied to its equipment. OSHA said the static pressure at a dead-ended exit orifice must stay below 30 psi; the instruction imposed no…
Measuring electrical panel work space
A company asked whether an electrical panel placed 30 inches from a conveyor met the work-space rule. OSHA said the cited electrical code measured the distance from the front of an enclosed panel,…
Power-actuated fastening into ductile cast iron
An employer sought a variance to drive power-actuated fasteners into ductile cast-iron ingot molds. OSHA found its documented operation appeared to qualify as a de minimis violation under the cited…
Audible backup alarms and off-highway trucks
A state transportation agency asked about construction-vehicle requirements. OSHA said an alarm must be distinguishable from surrounding noise, and off-highway trucks used at construction sites must…
Hawaii prepaid legal service provider outside ERISA plan status
A prepaid legal service provider asked whether its program was itself an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the private provider was controlled by neither an employer nor an employee…
Convertible employer debentures outside qualifying stock
An employee stock ownership plan asked whether convertible company debentures counted as qualifying employer stock under ERISA. The Department said debt was not stock merely because it could later…
Strength and edge protection for steel-band guardrails
An OSHA official asked when steel banding could serve as a guardrail. The response said band edges needed protection and the system had to withstand a 200-pound load with no more than three inches…
Welfare fund director compensation while serving as trustee
A welfare fund asked whether its director could be paid while also serving as a trustee and receiving part time union pay. The Department said the dual role and fund salary could be permissible if…
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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.