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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Partnership interests and party in interest status
A retirement plan proposed transferring assets to an insurer that partnered with a subsidiary of the sponsoring employer. DOL said the partnership was not a party in interest solely because the…
Employer insurance assistance exceeds group-plan exclusion
DOL said the described employer involvement exceeded the limited, neutral role permitted by its group-insurance exclusion. Helping prepare claims, holding the contract in the employer’s name, and…
Carrying lunchboxes and toolboxes on manlifts
An OSHA area office asked whether workers could carry lunchboxes on manlifts. OSHA said the personnel-only rule could cover such items as freight or packaged goods because a dropped or caught box…
State welfare trust law and ERISA preemption
Asked in 1975 about a state law governing employee welfare trusts, DOL concluded that ERISA preempted provisions regulating covered employer benefit funds. It distinguished one section regulating…
Mortgage loan participations and indirect plan transactions
A pension trust proposed buying one-time mortgage loan participations from a savings association. DOL said a direct section 406 transaction would not arise if the seller was not already a party in…
Participant trustee control and ERISA bonding
A participant who was also a plan trustee asked about fiduciary and bonding duties. DOL said control limited to the participant’s own account did not itself confer fiduciary status under section…
Closely held employer stock valuation by plan fiduciaries
A profit sharing plan asked whether annual net-book-value pricing of closely held employer stock met ERISA’s adequate-consideration condition. DOL said it did not make advance determinations for…
Payments to former plan administrator during work ban
DOL wrote to fund trustees about monthly payments to a former administrative manager during a period when he could not work for the funds. It raised a possible violation of ERISA's rule on using…
Religious school pension plan and church exemption
A nonprofit Hebrew school asked whether its pension plan qualified as a church plan. DOL said the then statutory definition did not include religious organizations other than churches or church…
Group insurance exclusion and welfare reporting exemptions
DOL distinguished the group-insurance exclusion from reporting exemptions for some small welfare plans. It explained that 29 CFR 2520.104-20 addressed direct employer-insurer or participant…
Diocesan cemetery association plan and church exemption
DOL was asked whether a diocesan cemetery association's pension plan was covered by ERISA. It found that the association, rather than a church or church convention or association, adopted and…
Venue for ERISA benefit claims
In a letter to a court about a pending case, DOL discussed jurisdiction, preemption, and venue for participant benefit claims. It expressed the view that a post-ERISA claim to recover benefits under…
Employer securities in eligible individual account plans
Profit sharing plans asked about acquiring employer or parent-company securities. DOL said an eligible individual account plan could avoid the section 407 concentration limit if its documents met…
Successor trustee compensation and transition relief
A plan asked whether a successor trustee appointed after June 30, 1974 could receive plan compensation while receiving full-time pay from a participating employer or union. DOL said the section…
Crane load indicators and a port lessor's variance request
A port crane lessor asked about a variance for a load indicator with different accuracy than the cited standard. OSHA said the lessor was not eligible to apply for a variance and that the described…
Vinyl-chloride medical surveillance and worker refusal
A vinyl-resin manufacturer asked how the then-new vinyl-chloride medical surveillance rule applied. OSHA said employers had to offer and encourage covered exams but employees could refuse, and it…
Bonding for plans with owner-only participants
A requester asked whether trustees or participants in one- or two-person plans needed ERISA bonds. DOL said the facts were insufficient to decide who handled plan assets under the then bonding rule.…
Delinquent contributions to a multiemployer welfare plan
A multiemployer welfare plan asked about unpaid employer contributions. DOL said it was still considering when contribution delinquency might become a prohibited extension of credit, so it gave no…
Temporary labor camp rule and recreational camp counselors
An OSHA region asked whether the temporary labor camp standard covered paid counselors at recreational camps. OSHA said temporary referred to employment rather than the housing structure, but that…
Corporate merger without pension plan merger
Two corporations proposed merging while leaving the involved pension plan and all its assets in the existing trust. DOL said section 208 governed pension plan mergers or consolidations, not a…
Air recirculation in spray-finishing operations
An equipment supplier asked about an advertisement for electronic air cleaners used near spray finishing. OSHA said the rule barred recirculating spray exhaust and required contaminated air removal…
Employer-sponsored IRA coverage under ERISA
A requester asked whether custodians or trustees of individual retirement accounts had ERISA Title I duties. DOL said the then IRA regulatory exclusion depended on specified conditions. An IRA…
Six parcels as qualifying employer real property
Defined benefit plans asked whether six employer-leased parcels qualified under section 407(d)(4). DOL found the locations sufficiently dispersed and the buildings suitable for more than one use on…
ERISA written plan instrument requirements
A requester asked whether a proposed written instrument satisfied ERISA section 402. DOL said the instrument must be established by someone authorized to designate named fiduciaries and define…
Shirts as construction protective equipment
A builders’ group asked about construction workers working bare-chested. OSHA said a shirt could be required as protective equipment where sunburn, dermatitis, or abrasion hazards were recognized.…
Standpipes as construction progresses
A construction company asked when standpipes had to be installed. OSHA said the timing phrase referred to local fire and building codes, and required standpipes had to stay ready for use as…
Bonding after pension plan termination
A pension plan asked about bonding after its December 1974 termination. DOL said ERISA’s transition provision made section 412 bonding applicable because PBGC confirmed plan coverage at termination.…
Glazed walls and fall protection at office buildings
An employer asked whether window walls set back from building edges violated OSHA's wall-opening rule. OSHA said permanently glazed walls without openings did not fall under that rule, while an…
Aisles beside flammable-liquid containers
An aircraft manufacturer asked how the flammable-liquid storage rule treats obstructions and wall aisles. OSHA said an obstruction is something that impedes water from sprinklers or hose streams,…
When magazine-fed powder-actuated tools are loaded
OSHA was asked how its powder-actuated tool rules apply to a tool with a magazine of explosive power loads. The agency said the rules had not contemplated that design and that, for inspection, the…
Insured welfare plans and fiduciary duties
A correspondent raised reporting burdens and fiduciary concerns for insured welfare plans. DOL described then limited reporting and disclosure relief for qualifying small plans, including timely…
Inspection interval for a stored powered platform
A company asked whether a powered window-cleaning platform used every 120 days needed inspection and testing every 30 days while locked in storage. OSHA said the 30-day inspection and test did not…
Machine guarding of chain saw blades
An attorney asked whether OSHA's general machine-guarding rule applied to chain saws. OSHA said it did; a blade guard could be unnecessary when it blocked the assigned work or created another…
Pivoting ladder at an emergency exit elevation change
A manufacturer requested a variance for an emergency exit with a 35-inch change in elevation. OSHA said its pivoting fixed ladder appeared to meet the cited rule's intent, so no variance was…
Simple test of a mechanical press control system
An OSHA region proposed a definition of a simple test for a mechanical press control system. OSHA agreed that the test should show normal stopping remained effective and another stroke could not…
Riding hoist blocks on oilfield drilling rigs
OSHA was asked about workers riding hoist blocks at oilfield drilling rigs. It said no standard specifically covered that rig condition, but cited general industry and construction provisions…
Federally funded equal-opportunity training program outside ERISA
DOL found the described CETA-funded construction recruitment and incidental training program was not an ERISA welfare plan, considering its purpose, federal funding, and public oversight. It said…
Employee-controlled vacation savings accounts outside ERISA
DOL found employee-funded vacation savings accounts outside both ERISA welfare and pension plan definitions. Neither the employer nor union contributed, and employees could withdraw their own money…
Unfunded management deferred compensation exception
A company asked about an unfunded deferred compensation plan for selected executives and managers, limited to 115 participants and fewer than four percent of employees. DOL found the described plan…
Wire-mesh gloves in specified poultry-processing tasks
A poultry industry group asked whether wire-mesh gloves were needed in several processing jobs. OSHA agreed they were not warranted for vent cutting, gizzard, heart and liver, and trim operations…
Safety nets in steel erection and later policy correction
A steel erector asked when safety nets were required. OSHA's 1975 response described nets as a last resort when other safeguards were impractical and distinguished two fall-distance figures. A 2005…
Fixed-ladder rung width and de minimis notice
An employer sought a variance for a fixed ladder with 14.5-inch clear rungs instead of the then-required 16 inches. OSHA said a variance was not the right route and the described deviation appeared…
Fire-resistant coating for aboveground tank saddles
A company asked how to apply OSHA's fire-resistant coating rule to supports under an aboveground tank. OSHA said the saddle height is measured from the lowest point in the middle of its curve to the…
Key employee deferred compensation plan exception
An employer asked about an unfunded deferred compensation and retirement plan for key employees selected by management, subject to pay, job classification, and designation conditions. DOL found the…
Nonprofit school pension plan under ERISA
A nonprofit school asked whether its contributory pension plan was covered. DOL said tax-exempt schools had no categorical Title I exclusion and a plan paying deferred income at termination met…
Children’s home pension plan and church exemption
A home for disadvantaged children operated under church auspices asked about its pension plan. DOL said tax exemption alone did not make the plan a church plan and it did not appear exempt on the…
Combustible liquids with flashpoints above 200 degrees
A manufacturer asked about combustible liquids with flashpoints above 200 degrees. OSHA said the cited standard omitted that category, while employers still had to provide a safe workplace and could…
1975 view of state prepaid health law preemption
Asked in 1975 about Hawaii's prepaid health care act, DOL concluded that ERISA section 514 entirely superseded that law insofar as it related to covered employer welfare plans. It distinguished…
Profit sharing plan paying at termination under ERISA
A trustee asked whether a profit sharing plan was covered by ERISA. DOL said it saw no reason to exclude the described plan, which paid a lump sum at termination. That income deferral met the…
Training operators of vehicle-mounted aerial lifts
An employer asked about operator qualifications for aerial ladders and booms. OSHA said the cited vehicle-mounted platform rule did not require an employer to certify and designate an operator to…
Guarding mechanical presses outside the power-press rule
A manufacturer asked which guarding standard applied to its mechanical goods presses. OSHA said the described machines did not meet the definition of mechanical power presses, so the general…
Fasteners for power-transmission guard covers
A machinery company asked whether removable guard covers needed fasteners every five inches. OSHA said the guard had to be secure to its frame, but the covers or hinges did not need that spacing and…
Front-end loaders outside powered-industrial-truck rule
A union official asked whether a front-end loader fell under OSHA's powered-industrial-truck training rule. OSHA said the earthmoving vehicle remained outside that rule even when used for another…
No legal list for World Bank bond investments
Asked whether World Bank bonds were lawful investments for multiemployer plans, DOL said it did not maintain a legal list. It said plan fiduciaries had to judge prudence in light of the investment’s…
Amorphous-silica dust limit under misprinted formula
An OSHA region asked which formula set the total-dust exposure limit for amorphous silica. OSHA said a misprinted formula remained the lawful one until amended through rulemaking and explained when…
New York unemployment coverage conformity decision
ETA transmitted the Secretary’s decision that New York could not exclude specified services from coverage required by the 1970 FUTA amendments. The full linked decision is included. ETA still lists…
Transfer of plan claim records between administrators
A plan asked to transfer claim records from its former insurer administrator to a successor trustee. DOL said the transfer served efficient administration if the predecessor kept a list of…
Traffic-exposure rule for excavation workers
An OSHA area office asked whether a construction traffic provision applied beyond excavations. OSHA said the cited rule concerned workers exposed to vehicles during excavation or trenching, while…
Compressed gas cylinders in construction tunnels
OSHA was asked whether oxygen, acetylene, or other fuel-gas cylinders could be taken into construction tunnels. It said a tunnel's classification depends on its conditions: cylinders must remain…
Self-executing ban on fiduciary exculpation
A plan asked about a draft amendment to remove fiduciary liability waivers. DOL said section 410(a) automatically made contrary provisions void when it applied, so an amendment was not needed for…
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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.