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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Small remembrances and gifts outside ERISA welfare plans
Duncan Welfare Fund described flowers, sickness gifts, grocery or clothing aid, Christmas baskets and charitable contributions. DOL found the described program fell within the regulatory exclusion…
Withdrawal of belt-loader handrail opinion
An airline was told OSHA had withdrawn an earlier opinion on mobile aircraft belt-loader handrails. OSHA said no specific standard covered the described condition, but a recognized serious fall…
Emergency exits from steam tunnels
A state facilities office asked whether steam tunnels needed emergency exits. OSHA said a steam tunnel counted as a structure and needed enough means of escape for workers, giving a parallel…
Placement of long-span trusses in steel erection
A steel-construction association asked how structural-member placement rules applied to long-span trusses. OSHA agreed with the described placement method for members on opposite sides of a common…
Restaurant properties as qualifying employer real property
DOL said three proposed restaurant properties would meet ERISA’s geographic dispersion and alternative use conditions if the plan’s stated facts were correct. It declined to decide whether the…
Teachers’ charitable relief fund outside ERISA
DOL found that the Mary Muldoon Fund’s charitable aid to needy members of a teachers’ organization was neither an ERISA welfare plan nor a pension plan. Its financial-hardship benefit was outside…
Colored illumination for exit signs
A telephone company asked whether OSHA had deleted the colored-light requirement for exit signs. A regional OSHA office said the proposal had not changed the rule, so externally illuminated signs…
GFCIs and emergency venting for flammable liquids
An insurance representative asked about construction ground-fault protection and flammable-liquid venting. A regional OSHA office described the GFCI or testing-program options and explained how…
Split dollar life insurance and stock purchase plans
DOL classified the employer’s split dollar life insurance arrangement as an ERISA welfare plan, described how its Social Security offset pension plan could state accrued benefits, and found its…
Marking aisles on dirt or dusty floors
An OSHA office asked how to mark aisles when dirt, sand, or dust made painted lines impractical. OSHA said the rule allowed other visible methods, such as marked pillars, cones, flags, or barrels,…
Fiberglass crude-oil tanks at isolated wellheads
An OSHA region asked whether fiberglass tanks could be used to store crude oil at wellheads. OSHA said tanks in isolated rural areas meeting the 1973 NFPA code could be accepted as de minimis…
Discretionary IRA bonuses paid to employees
DOL found that an employer’s discretionary bonus paid to employees, who then deposited it into their own IRAs, did not make the described IRA program an ERISA pension plan. The employer’s…
Employer-funded IRA bonus program under ERISA
DOL found that Union Springs Telephone’s bonus payments deposited directly into employees’ IRAs provided retirement income and involved employer contributions, so the program was an ERISA pension…
Rockwell pension pattern bargaining after 1973
Rockwell asked whether its 1974 pension supplement and bargaining history met ERISA section 211(c). DOL treated the later patterned bargaining as relating back to the pre-1974 agreement on the…
Elevator-room signs and double-insulated tools
An elevator company asked about maintenance-room signs and construction ground-fault protection. OSHA said its sign arrangement met the cited requirement but unauthorized access remained a problem.…
Typographical correction to power-press safeguarding rule
OSHA told its regional offices that typographical errors in the power-press safeguarding rule had caused confusion. It identified the comma and word changes needed to clarify the list of…
Small employer hospital benefit plan under ERISA
DOL classified an employer-funded hospital benefit program covering four employees as an ERISA welfare plan subject to Title I reporting, fiduciary and enforcement provisions. It pointed to a…
Union and employer severance funds under ERISA
DOL said the proposed company-by-company severance payment funds appeared outside the ERISA pension plan definition under its then-current severance guidance, but were ERISA welfare plans because…
Concurrent two-hand power-press controls
A press maker asked what 'concurrent' meant for two-hand controls. OSHA said it required both hands but no simultaneous timing, and that tied-down or bridged controls violated the rule; a serious…
City employee insurance as a governmental plan
DOL concluded that the described city-paid employee insurance program was established and maintained by a political subdivision for its employees. It was therefore a governmental plan under ERISA…
Single employer property parcel in retirement plans
DOL found that three retirement plans’ shared interest in one parcel leased to related employers lacked the geographic dispersion needed for qualifying employer real property. The ERISA section…
County employee insurance as a governmental plan
DOL concluded that the described county employee insurance program, funded by both the county and workers, was established and maintained by a political subdivision for its employees. It was a…
City pension plan as a governmental plan
DOL concluded that the described city employee pension plan was a governmental plan because the city established and maintained it. The plan was exempt from ERISA Title I requirements, including its…
Community college health plan as a governmental plan
DOL concluded that the described community college health insurance plan was established and maintained by a state agency or instrumentality. The college paid most of the premiums and administered…
Telephone line work in bad weather and near conductors
A telephone worker asked about grounding near energized lines and work in bad weather. An OSHA regional office pointed to telecommunications grounding rules, said its standards did not directly…
Savings association accounts and ERISA fiduciary status
DOL ruled that a savings and loan association offering ordinary accounts for a described pension plan program would not become an ERISA fiduciary or be subject to ERISA bonding merely through that…
Spray-booth separation and material handling
A manufacturer asked how OSHA measured separation from a paint spray area and whether ordinary handling equipment could enter a booth. OSHA said the 20-foot distance ran from the spray area or…
Perimeter railings on temporary steel-erection floors
A company asked which guardrail rule applied on temporary steel-erection floors. OSHA said the steel-erection wire-rope rule protected erectors during assembly, while other trades using the same…
Crane-suspended platforms and aerial lifts
An equipment maker asked which OSHA rules applied to personnel lifts and crane-suspended platforms. OSHA said a program directive allowed crane platforms under controlled conditions, and identified…
State school retirement plan reporting exemption
A board of education asked whether its schools had to file plan reports and descriptions. DOL found that the state school retirement plan was established and administered by state agencies, making…
Sale of nonqualifying employer real property under transition rules
A profit sharing plan sought an exemption to sell its single employer-leased property back to the employer. DOL and IRS found that the property was not qualifying employer real property. Because…
Lockout for center-pivot irrigation systems
An agricultural safety specialist asked about electrical disconnects on center-pivot irrigation equipment. OSHA said a single lockout system controlled exclusively by the maintenance worker,…
Agency distribution of reciprocal welfare fund contributions
Two union locals had reciprocal welfare fund contributions, but one local lacked a matching security benefit fund. DOL said ERISA Title I did not prohibit that local’s welfare fund trustees from…
High school district retirement plans and ERISA filing
A high school district asked whether its two state retirement plans had to file Form EBS-1. DOL found that the district was a state agency or instrumentality and the plans were governmental plans…
State college disability program as governmental plan
DOL was asked whether a state college's disability policy was a governmental plan. On the supplied facts that the college established, maintained, administered, and controlled the program for state…
City pension plan as governmental plan
A city asked whether its administered employee pension plan was subject to ERISA Title I. DOL concluded that the city was a political subdivision and that the plan was a governmental plan exempt…
City school district welfare plan as governmental plan
A city public school district asked whether ERISA changed the prior coverage treatment of its employer-funded welfare plan. DOL found that the plan was established and maintained by a city agency or…
Village employee welfare plan as governmental plan
A village paid all premiums under a welfare benefit contract for its employees and asked whether ERISA imposed obligations. DOL concluded that the village was a political subdivision and the…
Municipal hospital benefit plans as governmental plans
A town-appointed board administered a municipal hospital that funded a state retirement plan and employee insurance. DOL concluded that the hospital was an instrumentality of a political…
City health insurance plan as governmental plan
A city negotiated, paid for, and administered a health insurance plan for its employees. DOL concluded that the plan was established and maintained by a political subdivision and therefore was a…
City hospital plan reporting exemption
A city maintained a group hospital and surgical plan for employees, with optional dependent coverage funded by employees. DOL concluded that the city plan was a governmental plan exempt from ERISA…
Small insured welfare plan reporting exemptions
An employer asked about reporting and disclosure exemptions for three insured welfare plans, each with fewer than 100 participants. DOL concluded that the plans qualified for the exemptions in then…
Union credit union as depository for benefit funds
A union proposed using its credit union to receive and distribute employer contributions for six funds. DOL said the funds would be covered by ERISA if they provided the listed statutory benefits…
Utility-line maintenance near energized conductors
An electrical workers' union asked which rules governed maintenance near energized utility lines. A regional OSHA office said the construction power-line subpart did not itself cover maintenance,…
Protective equipment and stricter employer rules
An employee asked about being required to wear protective equipment. OSHA said its rules required gear when it could prevent a reasonably probable injury. A company could also impose equipment rules…
First-aid response time on construction sites
A safety consultant asked how close a physician or hospital had to be for a construction site. OSHA recommended an on-site trained first-aid person if professional care was over eight minutes away;…
First-aid response time on construction sites
A safety consultant asked how close medical help had to be to a construction site. A regional OSHA office recommended an on-site person trained in first aid when professional care was more than…
Floor-load signs in offices and storage areas
A construction company asked where floor-loading signs were needed in a building. An OSHA regional office said the first-floor slab, offices, lunch rooms, showers, toilets, and locker rooms did not…
Supplemental retiree payments outside ERISA plans
An employer sought guidance on supplemental payments to pensioners from its general assets. DOL said payments meeting seven stated conditions, including no advance promise, no legal obligation,…
Management profit sharing plan with broad eligibility
DOL was asked to reconsider coverage of a management profit sharing plan adopted by fourteen affiliated corporations. It found the plan covered by ERISA and outside the unfunded select-management…
Profit sharing plan coverage and top-hat exception
DOL was asked to reconsider coverage of a profit sharing plan adopted by fourteen corporations. It found the plan was an ERISA pension plan and did not qualify for the exception for unfunded…
Steel-erection floor planking dimensions
A bridge company asked what planking the steel-erection flooring rule required. A regional OSHA office said it called for full-size two-inch undressed planking or equivalent and left grade selection…
Forklift travel direction on grades and trailers
An OSHA region asked how forklift travel rules applied while loading or unloading trailers. OSHA said loaded trucks on grades over ten percent had to keep the load upgrade, while the following…
Oil-quenching tanks under dip-tank rules
An OSHA office asked whether its dip-tank provisions covered a 380°F-flash-point liquid and an oil-quenching process. The regional administrator answered yes to both and identified the hardening and…
Spray-area ventilation, sampling, and electrical wiring
OSHA field staff were given definitions for spray rooms, booths, and areas, plus guidance on when sampling and special electrical wiring were needed. The 1976 memo emphasized sampling to establish…
Public employee union pension plan under ERISA
A labor organization representing state and local workers asked whether its own pension plan was covered by ERISA. DOL found the nongovernmental organization was an employer with respect to its own…
Town pension plan as governmental plan
A town asked about a pension plan it fully funded for its employees, with the city council deciding benefits and the contract award. DOL found the plan was established and maintained by a political…
Small insured employee benefit program under ERISA
An organization with no more than ten employees asked about its insured accident, medical, and life program. DOL concluded that the program was an ERISA welfare plan subject to Title I parts 1, 4,…
Small hospitalization plan and filing exemption
An employer asked whether its group hospitalization plan covering sixteen employees had to file Form EBS-1. DOL found it was an ERISA welfare plan. It said a limited exemption existed for some plans…
Two-year employee stock purchase plan outside pension definition
An employer asked about several arrangements but supplied substantive facts only for its stock purchase plan. DOL said the two-year payroll deduction and purchase arrangement appeared outside…
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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.