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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Cancellation of Dislocated Worker Opportunity Grants
ETA rescinded TEGL 1-17 and Change 1 because funds were no longer available for Dislocated Worker Opportunity Grants. It said funding would be redirected toward recovery needs following Hurricane…
FY 2017 Work Opportunity Tax Credit allotments
ETA provided final FY 2017 funding allotments to state workforce agencies for administering the Work Opportunity Tax Credit through September 30, 2017. The letter explains the allocation formula and…
Updated WIOA performance accountability guidance
DOL and Education replaced TEGL 10-16 with revised guidance for WIOA performance accountability across the core workforce, adult education, employment service and vocational rehabilitation programs.…
Construction Plus training in YouthBuild
ETA explained the Construction Plus option for YouthBuild grantees: training in in-demand occupations beyond construction while maintaining the program’s required construction, education and…
Corrected Dislocated Worker grant spending period
ETA corrected the spending period for Dislocated Worker Opportunity Grants: funds would be available from October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2019, subject to possible extensions. The base letter…
FY 2018 state UI quality service plans
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies on preparing FY 2018 State Quality Service Plans. It set national priorities, performance and corrective-action criteria, funding information and…
Trade secrets and concentration ranges on safety data sheets
A safety-data-sheet provider asked several questions about ingredient percentages, concentration ranges and trade secrets. OSHA said a true concentration range cannot be hidden behind a wider one or…
Hiding exact chemical percentages as trade secrets
A software company asked whether chemical safety data sheets can suppress an exact ingredient concentration or replace a true batch-variation range with a wider one. OSHA said a qualifying exact…
Dislocated Worker Opportunity Grants
ETA announced up to $35 million in Dislocated Worker Opportunity Grants for career services and training in growing or high-demand industries. The letter set applicant, budget and award…
FY 2017 state UI administration allocations
ETA provided state unemployment agencies with FY 2017 administrative funding allocations and guidance on above-base funding and supplemental budget requests. Its attachment lists the base…
FECA and unemployment benefits data crossmatch
ETA explained how state unemployment agencies can use Federal Employees' Compensation Act payment data shared through the Interstate Connection network to find potentially overlapping workers'…
UI benefits operations self-assessment tool
ETA introduced a tool for state unemployment agencies to evaluate their benefits operations and described how to plan implementation and report results to ETA. The letter covers operational areas,…
FY 2018 state UI resource planning targets
ETA supplied state unemployment agencies with preliminary FY 2018 funding and staff-year targets for State Quality Service Plans. It also described how base administrative resources were allocated…
Benzene traces in solvent hazard labels and safety data sheets
A requester asked how to label a solvent containing benzene as a trace contaminant. OSHA said a mixture with at least 0.1% benzene is classified as a carcinogen, and even a lower concentration…
YouthBuild construction credentials
ETA clarified which construction credentials YouthBuild grantees may count toward WIOA's credential measure. It identifies four nationally recognized construction credentials and explains that…
2017 Trade Adjustment Assistance funding
ETA provided states' initial FY 2017 allocations for Trade Adjustment Assistance training and related activities and explained how states could request reserve funds. The letter describes its…
2017 Native American program allotments
ETA reduced the final 2017 Supplemental Youth Services allotments for Indian and Native American grantees; Comprehensive Services amounts were unchanged. The attached table gives grantee amounts,…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance for mid-2017
ETA sent state unemployment agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from July through September 2017. The attachment lists each state's…
2017 National Farmworker Jobs Program plans
ETA instructed National Farmworker Jobs Program employment, training and housing grantees how to prepare 2017 program plans, performance goals and grant budgets. Four attachments give submission…
2017 senior employment program instructions
ETA gave Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees the 2017 application, allotment and submission instructions, with funding tables and forms in four attachments. This letter rescinded…
Fall protection on outdoor-advertising fixed ladders
An outdoor advertising association asked how the fixed-ladder fall-protection rule applies to billboards. OSHA said the 24-foot threshold is measured by the distance a climber could fall to a lower…
Restored FY 2017 WIOA advance allotments
ETA restored FY 2017 advance allotments for WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker activities to the originally appropriated levels, reversing reductions announced in Changes 1 and 2. The attachment gives…
Post-exposure follow-up for emergency responders
A public-safety association asked about source-patient information and post-exposure care for emergency responders. OSHA said a covered responder’s employer must promptly arrange evaluation and…
One-stop cost-sharing correction for SCSEP
ETA corrected its American Job Center guidance to say that a Senior Community Service Employment Program participant's community service hours may count toward a partner's additional shared costs,…
Medical evaluations for infrequent respirator use
A union asked whether workers who rarely use self-contained breathing apparatus must have annual blood work. OSHA said the respiratory-protection rule requires a medical evaluation before use and…
2017 WIOA and employment service allotments
ETA announced 2017 allotments for WIOA Adult, Dislocated Worker and Youth activities, Wagner-Peyser employment services, and Workforce Information Grants to States. Ten attachments explain the…
Supplemental wage data for WIOA performance
DOL and Education explained when WIOA core programs may use supplemental wage information to measure employment outcomes if quarterly wage records are unavailable or incomplete. The letter describes…
Edge-guarding standards at a designated waterfront facility
A company asked whether marine-terminal edge guarding or another OSHA standard covered the edge of a dock used only for bulk storage and transfer of liquids or gases. OSHA said the described…
Assigned protection factors and respirator fit tests
A requester asked when OSHA’s assigned protection factor applies and how it relates to a fit test. OSHA said the factor is assigned to a respirator class under an effective protection program, while…
2017 removal of UI applicant drug-testing rule
After Congress disapproved the 2016 occupation-based drug-testing rule, ETA told states that the rule's removal temporarily barred testing UI applicants under the occupation-based branch until the…
Dairy consortium health plan under ERISA
A dairy cooperative asked whether its member farms could sponsor a single ERISA health plan. EBSA said the farms could form a qualifying employer group, and the plan an ERISA welfare plan, at least…
Labels for paired chemical tubes
A manufacturer asked whether two attached chemical tubes dispensed together could be labeled as one mixture. OSHA said each tube is a separate immediate container and must carry its own required…
Hazard labels on boxed and shrink-wrapped cleaning chemicals
A trade association asked whether sealed boxes and shrink-wrapped pallets of cleaning chemicals may carry only outer hazard labels in storage. OSHA said that is acceptable while the packaging stays…
Renumbered unemployment insurance grant progress report
ETA renumbered the quarterly progress report for unemployment insurance Supplemental Budget Request grants from Form ETA 9165 to Form ETA 9178 because two forms had been assigned the same number.…
Resource Justification Model handbook revisions
ETA transmitted revisions to Employment and Training Handbook 410's Resource Justification Model used by state unemployment agencies. The change adjusts how nonpersonal-service and IT expenditures…
Welding classrooms, student coverage and recirculated air
An engineering firm asked whether OSHA rules cover welding students and whether filtered welding fumes may be recirculated into classrooms or workplaces. OSHA said student coverage depends on…
Bloodborne-pathogen protection for security guards providing first aid
A requester asked whether security guards required to give first aid qualify for OSHA’s collateral-duty exception to pre-exposure hepatitis B vaccination. OSHA said they are public-safety personnel…
Temporary delay in silica-standard enforcement for construction
OSHA instructed its regional administrators to delay enforcement of the construction crystalline-silica standard until September 23, 2017 while it prepared outreach and staff guidance. The delay…
2017 UI benefit accuracy reporting schedule
ETA gave state unemployment agencies deadlines and procedures for completing 2017 Benefit Accuracy Measurement paid and denied claims cases and reviewing the data before federal publication. The…
HAZWOPER training for emergency medical responders
A fire-rescue chief asked what HAZWOPER training emergency medical workers need when treating people at hazardous-material incidents. OSHA said training depends on the duties performed:…
2017 foreign labor certification grant plans
ETA gave state workforce agencies FY 2017 grant planning and management instructions for foreign labor certification activities. Four attachments provide the planning package, annual plan,…
Internal security for state UI operations
ETA updated its internal-security guidance for state unemployment agencies, covering prevention, detection and response to fraud or abuse within UI operations. It sets out agency responsibilities…
Older hazard labels on chemical stock held by end users
An employer asked whether it must replace labels and safety sheets on chemicals shipped before the revised hazard-communication deadlines. OSHA said end users may keep stock with compliant older…
Hazard labels on very small sample vials
A company asked whether 40-milliliter sample vials could use abbreviated hazard labels and put the full label on outer packaging. OSHA said the small-package accommodation applies only when full…
Reach stackers and marine-terminal certification
OSHA instructed field offices that reach stackers used at marine terminals qualify as powered industrial trucks and are exempt from the equipment certification requirement in 29 CFR 1917.50. The…
2016 WIOA dislocated-worker reallotment
ETA adjusted 2016 WIOA Dislocated Worker state allotments through recapture and reallotment, explaining the procedure and revised amounts. Three attachments give state reallotments, the program-year…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance for spring 2017
ETA sent state unemployment agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from April through June 2017. The attachment lists each state's average…
2017 Native American program planning estimates
ETA gave WIOA section 166 Indian and Native American grantees estimated 2017 funding amounts and application instructions for Comprehensive Services and Supplemental Youth Services. Three…
2017 senior employment income guidelines
ETA told Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees to use the attached 2017 federal poverty and low-income guidelines when determining or recertifying participant eligibility. The letter…
Revised FY 2017 WIOA advance funding cut
ETA reduced the previously announced cut to FY 2017 WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker advance allotments from 0.496 percent to 0.1901 percent, providing additional funding to states and outlying…
WIOA youth formula program guidance
ETA gave states and local workforce areas operating guidance for WIOA Title I youth formula programs, including eligibility, service elements and reporting. Its attachments provide references and…
2016 migrant farmworker state and center designations
ETA designated states and one-stop centers with significant migrant and seasonal farmworker activity for program year 2016 and gave state agencies service responsibilities under the updated…
WIOA adult, dislocated-worker and employment services
ETA explained how American Job Centers deliver career and training services under WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker programs and the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service. The letter covers service types,…
Adjudicating combined-wage UI claims
ETA clarified which state decides an issue on a combined-wage unemployment claim. Generally, the paying state may not re-adjudicate an issue already decided by a transferring state; the letter…
Corrected 2017 SCSEP national grantee allotments
ETA corrected authorized participant positions and funding for two Senior Community Service Employment Program national grantees in Florida and Michigan for February through June 2017. Grantees were…
Hydrogen process safety across adjoining employers
Two employers operated connected hydrogen equipment on one facility property and asked whether OSHA’s process-safety rule applied. OSHA said the connected inventory can meet the coverage threshold,…
Suspended loads at metal and nonmetal mines
Metal and nonmetal mine operators asked how the suspended-load rule applies to cranes and their attached rigging. MSHA says the load includes spreader bars, blocks, slings, and similar attachments,…
2017 interest rate on Title XII UI advances
ETA announced that the Treasury would charge 2.2124 percent interest on Title XII advances to state unemployment funds during calendar year 2017. Treasury charged that rate on repayable advances;…
FY 2017 sequestration for mandatory UI programs
ETA explained to state unemployment agencies how FY 2017 budget sequestration applied to mandatory UI programs, including delayed payments from earlier years and administrative costs. The letter…
2017 Social Security and federal pension increases
ETA informed state unemployment agencies of 2017 cost-of-living increases for Social Security old-age and survivor benefits and federal civilian pensions. It pointed states to the Office of…
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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.