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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Association disability and accident plans covered by ERISA
An association asked whether its disability and accidental death plans qualified for ERISA’s voluntary insurance safe harbor. The Department said they did not because the association billed…
Pattern bargaining and Rockford Clutch pension plan
Rockford Clutch asked whether later bargaining for pension benefits related back to a pre-1974 pattern for an ERISA transition rule. The Department said it did on the represented facts, but did not…
Pattern bargaining and Kelsey-Hayes pension supplements
Fruehauf Corporation sought an ERISA section 211(c) opinion on Kelsey-Hayes pension supplements negotiated after January 1, 1974. On the represented facts, DOL found the supplement qualified as a…
Borg & Beck pension pattern bargaining
Borg & Beck asked whether its March 1974 pension bargaining could be treated as relating back to the pre-1974 GM-UAW pattern under ERISA section 211(c). DOL accepted that relation on the represented…
Warner Gear pension pattern bargaining
Warner Gear asked whether its April 1974 pension bargaining related back to a pre-1974 GM-UAW pattern for ERISA section 211(c). DOL accepted that relation on the represented facts, but found too…
Shell-to-shell spacing of aboveground tanks
A chemical plant sought a variance from tank spacing requirements. OSHA said the described spacing appeared to pose no employee safety or health effect, so it would treat the deviation as de minimis…
Guardrails and handholds on crane platforms
An OSHA area office asked whether a crane platform rule set a platform height. The regional technical office said it did not; outside platforms needed standard guardrails, or handholds at convenient…
Teledyne stock tender and the ERISA transition exemption
DOL found that a Teledyne plan trust could sell its full block of employer stock in a 1976 tender under ERISA section 414(c)(5), including shares received as a nontaxable stock dividend, if the…
Adjustable guard on a radial saw
A finishing company requested a variance for an adapted radial-saw guard. OSHA said the design appeared to meet the existing rule if properly installed, adjusted, and maintained, so it would take no…
Exit discharge into a yard with street access
A plant asked whether exits could discharge into a wide yard with free access to a public street. OSHA pointed to the rule requiring an exit discharge to lead outside or to a suitable route or open…
Safety sleeves for rotating shaft ends
A manufacturer asked what counted as a safety sleeve for a projecting rotating shaft. OSHA defined it as a durable smooth cover that prevents contact with the shaft and projections. The described…
Steel-angle cleats on fixed ladders
An engineer asked whether steel angles could serve as cleats on a fixed ladder. OSHA said they did not meet the rule's rectangular cross-section definition and might also allow a worker's hand to…
Protective equipment required by workplace hazards
A requester asked about required personal protective equipment. OSHA said its rules required equipment where it could prevent a reasonably probable injury, while equipment beyond those requirements…
Fall protection on cotton-gin walkways
A cotton-ginners' association asked whether high walkways needed fixed railings. OSHA said the general walking-surface rules did not apply to agricultural cotton gins and, where no specific rule…
Wet hard-hat liners and electrical protection
A safety-equipment company asked about a helmet liner. OSHA relayed federal testing that a wet liner worn over the helmet edge removed the electrical insulation of Class A and B helmets. It said the…
Union pension fund loan to an apprenticeship fund
DOL said a proposed union pension fund loan to a separate apprenticeship fund did not appear to involve a party in interest under ERISA section 406(a). Section 406(b)(2) could still bar the loan if…
Backhoe swing-radius barricades
A contractors' association asked whether crane swing-radius barricade requirements applied to backhoes. A regional OSHA office said the same hazard existed where an excavating machine could also be…
Plan trustee serving on its custodial bank board
DOL said a plan trustee was not automatically barred from also serving as a director of the bank that provided the plans custodial services. Specific dealings could still violate ERISA section…
Insurance funded Keogh plans covering common law employees
DOL concluded that an employer's adoption of this insured Keogh prototype would produce a plan covered by ERISA Title I if it included common law employees. Insurance contracts guaranteed benefits…
Outdoor weather apparel and protective equipment
A requester asked whether employers had to provide outdoor or bad-weather clothing. A regional OSHA office said no rule specifically named that apparel, but protective clothing had to be used when…
Employer health premiums paid with secured promissory note
An insurer asked whether employers could pay part of a group health premium with a demand note secured by a bank letter of credit. The Department said this was not a prohibited transaction when…
Investment adviser serving a plan and related clients
DOL and IRS said that, if the proposed ownership, board and payment changes were made, an investment adviser would not cause a prohibited transaction merely by serving other clients related to the…
IUE and Chrysler pension bargaining changes
DOL concluded that the IUE and Chrysler’s 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions. It…
IUE and General Motors pension bargaining changes
DOL concluded that the IUE and General Motors’ 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions.…
UPGWA and Chrysler pension bargaining changes
DOL concluded that the UPGWA and Chrysler’s 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions. It…
Protective footwear for freight handlers
Freight handlers challenged a decision on their employer's footwear citation. OSHA said their foot and ankle injury record showed exposure requiring suitable protection under its PPE rule, and that…
UAW and Chrysler pension bargaining changes
DOL concluded that the UAW and Chrysler’s 1976 changes to age-65, survivor, limited-group service-credit and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA…
UAW and General Motors pension bargaining changes
DOL concluded that the UAW and General Motors’ 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions.…
Foundry pension changes and the 1973 agreement
DOL concluded that narrow 1976 changes to age-65, survivor, foundry-service and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate the represented 1973 retirement agreement for ERISA transition provisions.…
Insulated spreader bars during battery charging
A battery service company asked about materials for equipment used to lift storage batteries. An OSHA regional office said the rule required suitable handling equipment and addressed nonsparking…
Proof testing special alloy-chain lifting devices
A manufacturer asked how to proof test a custom alloy-chain lifting device. OSHA said the general-industry sling provision did not address special devices whose strength depended on other…
Tree trimming near energized power lines
An OSHA region asked when tree trimmers using insulated aerial lifts could work within ten feet of power lines. OSHA said line-clearance work generally could, while other tree trimming generally…
Footwear rules and OSHA jurisdiction at a freight terminal
A congressman relayed freight handlers' questions about required safety shoes. OSHA said warehouse foot injury exposure justified protective footwear, and the federal motor-carrier agency did not…
Tucson Gas apprenticeship program as ERISA welfare plan
A utility asked whether its union apprenticeship program was an ERISA welfare plan or excluded payroll practice. The Department said it was a welfare plan because the program paid for training costs…
Employee stock purchase plan outside ERISA
A utility’s employee stock purchase plan let participants buy discounted company shares and sell them at any time. DOL concluded that it provided neither welfare benefits nor retirement income or…
Dentist’s benefit plan and interstate commerce
DOL said a dentist’s employee benefit plan was within ERISA’s interstate-commerce coverage where the practice used equipment, drugs and other materials moving in commerce. Operating in one state and…
Book value employer shares in a profit sharing plan
DOL found that proposed book value employer shares were qualifying employer securities and the profit sharing plan was an eligible individual account plan. Purchases and sales could use the ERISA…
Testing-laboratory approval for assembled GFCIs
A tool-repair company asked whether it could assemble ground-fault interrupters from approved components. A regional OSHA office said the completed device still needed evaluation by an acceptable…
Permanent billboard platforms versus scaffolds
A billboard association asked how OSHA classified walking decks attached to billboards. OSHA said a permanent platform fixed to a structure should not be called a temporary scaffold, while the…
Three-foot clearance around spray booths
A safety consultant asked where OSHA’s three-foot clearance for spray booths applied. OSHA said the requirement to keep the area free from storage and combustible construction referred to the…
Climbing structural members of towers and tanks
A tank company asked for clarification on how workers could climb towers and tanks. A regional OSHA office said climbing structural members was a recognized fall hazard and that noncompliant ladders…
Rollover protection for newer construction machines
An OSHA construction-standards office clarified which rollover-protection criteria applied to newer machines. It said criteria meant for pre-September 1972 machines should not be used for current…
Oregon experience-rating conformity decision
ETA explained why Oregon’s special noncharging treatment for food processors failed the FUTA experience-rating requirement that employers be charged by the same rule over the same period. The letter…
Recoupment and information requests across union trust funds
DOL said a fund might prudently offset future benefits to recover its own mistaken payment after reasonable collection efforts, but could not deny more benefits than the debt. If necessary…
Overpayment recovery among three union benefit funds
DOL said a fund might prudently offset future benefits to recover its own mistaken payment after reasonable collection efforts, but could not deny more benefits than the debt. A fund could delay…
Recoupment of pension benefit overpayments
DOL said plan fiduciaries should prudently try to recover mistaken benefit payments, but the method depends on the facts. Recovery from the administrator could remove the need to seek repayment from…
Overpayment recovery among related union benefit funds
DOL said a fund might prudently offset future benefits to recover its own mistaken payment after reasonable collection efforts, but could not deny more benefits than the debt. A fund was required to…
Plan sale of subsidiary stock to sponsoring employer
DOL concluded that a profit sharing plan’s shares in two companies were not qualifying employer securities before a proposed sale to the sponsoring employer. The companies were not yet affiliates of…
Solid-fuel salamanders during concrete curing
A construction-employer group sought a variance for solid-fuel heaters used during concrete curing. OSHA said the ban targeted open, spark-producing units in buildings or on scaffolds, not properly…
Insurance commissions paid to a plan sponsor’s sibling
DOL said the brother of a sponsoring company’s president was not a party in interest solely because of that sibling relationship, since ERISA’s listed family relationships did not include siblings.…
Delinquent contributions to multiemployer plans
DOL said an employer’s failure to make a required contribution to a multiemployer plan was not, by itself, a prohibited transaction. A prohibited transaction could arise from an unreasonable…
Vinyl-chloride releases and protective equipment
A materials company asked what counted as a massive vinyl-chloride release and when protective gear was needed. OSHA described visible pressurized gas, spray, cloud, or ice-clump conditions rather…
Union and welfare plans jointly purchasing forms
DOL concluded that three welfare plans and a related union could jointly buy application cards without a section 406(a) prohibited transaction when the union paid half and the plans shared the…
Employee stock ownership trust buying insider shares
DOL said proposed sales of employer stock by two company directors to an employee stock ownership trust could qualify for ERISA section 408(e) if the plan met the individual-account or section 407…
Employer-paid IRA fees and ERISA plan status
DOL said an employer’s payment of a monthly administrative fee for workers’ group IRAs would endorse the program, removing the regulatory safe harbor and making it an ERISA pension plan. It…
Employees’ association disability and life benefits
An employees’ association provided disability time-loss and group life insurance benefits to dues-paying members. DOL found its programs were ERISA welfare benefit plans maintained by an employee…
Shell Oil severance program reporting duties
DOL treated Shell Oil’s short-term lump-sum severance program as a welfare plan rather than a pension plan under its then-current severance guidance. It said the plan was subject to ERISA Title I…
Family relationship and marketable employer obligations
DOL concluded that a former chief executive was not independent of a debenture issuer for ERISA section 407 because his son was the issuer’s current chief executive. DOL did not determine whether…
Annual bonus pool outside ERISA pension rules
DOL found that the described incentive compensation trust paid each pool’s net income to participating employees soon after each calendar year. Because the amounts were work bonuses rather than…
Guarding comfort fans and exposed drive belts
An equipment maker asked which fan-guard and belt-guard rules applied. OSHA said the specific fan-blade provision concerned comfort-cooling fans, while fans inside larger units still needed guarding…
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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.