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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Sheet metal training fund and ERISA welfare-plan status
A jointly administered sheet metal training fund asked whether its apprenticeship and training activities made it an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said it met the welfare-plan definition…
Crane-suspended working platforms
A crane company asked about hoisting workers on crane-suspended platforms. OSHA said a program directive and a variance allowed such platforms under controlled conditions because some alternative…
Equivalent fixed ladder cages and first-rung spacing
A designer asked whether four fixed-ladder cage sketches and a first-rung layout met OSHA's rules. OSHA said the cages appeared equivalent to the illustrated designs and allowed up to 12 inches from…
Fixed ladders as emergency exits
An engineering company asked whether a fixed metal ladder could serve as a second emergency exit. OSHA said the cited exit-route rules required minimum access width and stairs or a ramp where the…
Fixed ladders for periodic tower maintenance
A company asked whether a tower with two equipment platforms could use fixed ladders. OSHA said ladders meeting the fixed-ladder design rule appeared acceptable if employees used them only for…
Katz and Besthoff savings plan stock and promissory notes
A savings plan proposed exchanging employer shares for cash and employer notes and asked how ERISA’s employer security rules applied. The Department said the shares would qualify if they met the…
Job-made ladders versus manufactured portable ladders
A requester proposed selling disposable ladders built to job-made ladder specifications. OSHA said the job-made rules applied to ladders actually built for temporary construction use; a manufactured…
Anchoring machines and radial-saw return movement
A plastics company asked about anchoring fixed machines and installing radial saws. OSHA said nonskid feet could substitute for anchors when a machine did not walk, move, or tip, and explained that…
Columbus McKinnon discretionary retiree supplements
An employer proposed discretionary payments, granted for no more than one year at a time, to certain former employees already receiving pension benefits. Based on the employer's representations, the…
Location requirements for bulk oxygen storage
An engineer asked which bulk oxygen storage provisions applied to a proposed installation. OSHA said one provision covered aboveground outdoor systems and another covered systems in a fire-resistant…
Western Conference Teamsters pension service credit
A multiemployer pension fund asked whether its method of counting regular hours met ERISA service credit rules. The Department said it could not ignore work because an employer failed to contribute,…
Repeat citations and multi-employer worksite policy
A construction safety program asked how OSHA applied repeat-violation and multi-employer citation policies. OSHA described different geographic scopes for fixed and mobile businesses and said an…
New England Teamsters pension hours and partial year accrual
A Teamsters pension fund asked about capping counted hours at 40 per week and rounding partial year benefit credit. The Department said its hours method did not meet the prescribed alternatives and…
Fall protection for ironworker connectors
An ironworker asked whether connectors had to tie off during work and travel on a structure. OSHA said tie-offs were not always the safest method, but employers still had to provide other fall…
Grounding transmission-line clipping crews
A utility asked how OSHA’s transmission-line grounding provisions fit together. OSHA said clipping and tying crews on bare conductors had to work between grounds. Other overhead-line work could…
Douglas-Guardian retiree payments and pension status
A warehouse company asked whether its monthly payments to selected retirees created an ERISA pension plan. The Department could not assure the company that they fell outside ERISA because some…
Union pension account transfers and prohibited transactions
A union asked whether its account paying pension and death benefits to retired members was an ERISA plan and whether transfers to other union accounts were allowed. The Department said the benefit…
Maryland hospital group legal services plan
A requester asked whether a hospital's voluntary group legal services plan was an ERISA welfare plan. The plan provided prepaid legal services and received employer and participant contributions.…
Temporary bracing of masonry walls
A requester asked about bracing brick walls during construction. OSHA said failure to shore or brace a masonry wall would be cited under the general duty clause and pointed to an incorporated ANSI…
Lifelines on two-point and multistage suspension scaffolds
A scaffold company asked whether workers on suspended scaffolds needed individual lifelines. OSHA said the cited rule required them on two-point suspension scaffolds, while an agency directive…
Square-bar rungs on fixed ladders
A power company asked whether angled three-quarter-inch square bars could serve as fixed-ladder rungs. OSHA said that configuration met the rung rule if it satisfied the cited design requirements.…
Steel-mesh gloves for meat cutters
An association asked about steel-mesh gloves in meat cutting. OSHA said retail meat cutters doing little boning or breakdown work could forgo the gloves where frequent removal was needed, but…
Physical qualifications for crane and derrick operators
An engineering company asked about physical qualifications for crane operators. OSHA said the then-applicable requirements for specified crane and derrick operators covered vision, color…
Electrical switches on locomotives at grain elevators
An attorney requested a variance for a locomotive used near grain elevators. OSHA said unenclosed electrical switches amid grain dust could support a general duty citation, but the administrative…
Employee IRA purchase of current employer stock
An employee proposed moving distributed plan assets into an IRA and directing it to buy stock in her current employer from its corporate parent. The Department said the proposed fund and transaction…
Collective bargaining arbitrator outside ERISA fiduciary role
A federal mediation agency asked whether an arbitrator became an ERISA fiduciary by setting employers’ contributions to a welfare fund under a collective bargaining agreement. The Department said he…
Houston Chronicle proposed retiree supplements
A publisher proposed voluntary one year payments from general assets to certain former employees and surviving spouses. The Department said the proposed supplements did not themselves create an…
Sampling before spray-finishing and ventilation citations
An OSHA region asked when sampling was needed before citing spray-finishing operations. OSHA said the spray-finishing standard could be cited without lower-explosive-limit sampling in the described…
Retention of power-press inspection records
An OSHA region asked how long employers should keep power-press inspection and maintenance records. OSHA said retaining the last two records for each press met the rule's intent while standards were…
Water-based paints in spray finishing
An OSHA regional office asked how spray-finishing rules apply when only water-based paints are used. OSHA said residue controls under the cited spray-finishing rule still applied if drying left…
Covers for notches in scaffold planks
A scaffold plank manufacturer asked about notches at the ends of its planks. OSHA said the open notches qualified as floor holes and needed a secured cover or equivalent protection against people…
Construction standards on multi-employer worksites
A construction safety program asked how OSHA's construction rules applied on shared worksites. OSHA said each employer was responsible for its own workers and could be cited for exposing them to a…
Rollover protection on mobile hydraulic hammers
An equipment manufacturer asked whether mobile hydraulic hammers required rollover protective structures. OSHA said the construction ROPS rules did not apply to them at that time, but recommended…
Double connections during steel erection
An OSHA region asked about double connections while erecting beams and girders. OSHA accepted the described sequence with one end wrench-tight and the other finger-tight. A later correction directs…
Wood-lathe rules in a school shop
An engineer asked whether two OSHA woodworking-machine provisions applied to a normal nonautomatic 12-inch wood lathe in a high school shop. OSHA said they did not apply to that machine. OSHA…
Alloy steel chain in overhead hoisting
A tool maker asked about chain slings under OSHA’s general-industry standard. OSHA said the cited rule specifically addressed alloy steel chain for overhead hoisting and did not itself prohibit…
Emergency-only fixed ladder without cage or platforms
An OSHA region asked about a 120-foot fixed ladder used only for emergency exit. OSHA said the cage and platform requirements did not apply to that emergency-only ladder and advised posting…
Fixed-ladder cage height at side exits
A steel contractor asked about the required height of a fixed-ladder cage at a lateral exit. OSHA said the regulation required 42 inches above the landing unless other acceptable protection was…
Apprenticeship contest fund outside ERISA welfare coverage
An apprenticeship contest fund asked whether prizes for contest winners made it an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said it was not a covered training program, assuming the fund did not itself…
Lance employee stock purchase plan outside ERISA
An employer asked whether a voluntary payroll deduction stock purchase plan was an ERISA benefit plan. The Department said it was neither a welfare nor a pension plan: it provided no listed welfare…
Compressed-air cleaning and equipment endorsement
An inquirer asked about cleaning guns supplied above 30 psi and fitted with long pipes. OSHA said the setup could be used if a relief device lowered dead-ended outlet pressure below 30 psi and the…
Open notches in scaffold decking
A scaffold plank manufacturer asked whether notches in plywood decking needed protection. OSHA said the open notches counted as floor holes and required a secured cover or equivalent guard to…
Fall protection on refrigerator roof used for storage
A company asked whether a walk-in refrigerator roof used for occasional storage needed edge protection. OSHA said employees working near the edge required fall protection even if they visited only a…
Insulating fluid in hydraulic tools near energized lines
An attorney asked which hydraulic-fluid rule applied to tools used near energized electrical transmission lines. OSHA said the specific transmission-line rule required insulating fluid in those…
Occasional climbing on concrete-form walers
An OSHA region asked whether workers could climb the walers or stringers of concrete forms. OSHA said workers could occasionally climb pinned or welded walers during form work, but the walers should…
Wage-data disclosure and common paymasters under FUTA
ETA explained the new FUTA requirement to furnish unemployment wage records to AFDC agencies and the federal tax treatment of common paymasters for related corporations. Current status is unconfirmed.
Voluntary health and accident coverage outside ERISA
A union committee asked whether an insurer-offered health and accident policy for former industry-plan participants, including retirees and strikers, was an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said…
Supporting raised dump bodies at construction sites
OSHA instructed regional staff about construction dump trucks with raised bodies. It said covered employers should be cited if people inspected or serviced equipment beneath an unsupported raised…
CREF variable annuity assets and trustee compensation
A variable annuity provider argued that assets in its labeled general account were outside the pension plans buying its contracts. The Department said the variable benefit assets were plan assets…
Electrical industry vacation and holiday fund covered by ERISA
A jointly administered electrical industry fund asked to be treated as payroll savings rather than an ERISA welfare plan, or to receive a broad exemption. The Department said the fund met the…
Puerto Rican cement pension plan and ERISA coverage
An arbitrator asked whether a Puerto Rican pension plan was excluded from ERISA while it was being liquidated. The Department said Puerto Rico plans were not excluded as a class and the described…
National Business Conference benefit association outside ERISA
Florida insurance officials asked whether a business conference benefit association was an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the association was not established or maintained by an employer or…
OSHA requirements on returning collected grain dust
A requester asked about grain elevator explosions and dust-control requirements. OSHA said it had no regulation requiring trapped grain dust to be returned to the grain, while EPA regulated airborne…
Between-term benefit denials for educational service agency staff
ETA explained when states may extend school between-term or within-term benefit denials to employees of governmental educational service agencies. The option requires state statutory authority and…
NEBA prepaid legal program outside ERISA plan status
An insurance regulator asked whether a prepaid legal service program offered through NEBA entities was an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said neither entity was an employer or employee…
Tension springs on power presses
An OSHA region asked whether power presses could use tension springs where the rule called for compression springs. OSHA said it found no support for the specific requirement and, given the apparent…
Temporary labor camp inspection and citation policy
An OSHA region asked how to inspect temporary housing for migrant workers. OSHA said growers and crew leaders could both be responsible, even when housing belonged to a government agency or motel,…
Hoists for tunnel and shaft construction
A hoist company asked which construction rule governed personnel and material hoists used in tunnels and shafts. OSHA said the construction hoist standard applied, and a proposed tunnel rule did not…
Proposed Utah regulation of self insured welfare plans
An inquiry asked whether a proposed Utah law regulating noninsured employee welfare plans would be preempted by ERISA. The Department said ERISA would preempt the proposal to the extent it applied…
Kentucky health policy conversion law and ERISA
Kentucky insurance officials asked whether ERISA barred a state requirement that licensed insurers offer conversion rights in group health policies. The Department said the law regulated insurance…
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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.