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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WIOA transition funding from the 2014 Dislocated Worker reserve
ETA allotted Program Year 2014 Dislocated Worker reserve funds to states, outlying areas, and Indian and Native American grantees for WIOA implementation. It identified activities such as staff…
Fiscal Year 2015 Foreign Labor Certification grant planning
ETA gave state workforce agencies funding and planning instructions for Fiscal Year 2015 foreign labor certification activities. Four attachments provide program instructions, an annual plan form, a…
POWER Initiative National Dislocated Worker Grants
ETA announced up to $20 million in National Dislocated Worker Grants for workforce strategies in communities affected by changes in the coal economy. It described eligible applicants, activities,…
Program Year 2015 WIOA and Wagner-Peyser allotments
ETA published Program Year 2015 WIOA and Wagner-Peyser allotments for states and outlying areas. This change replaced the base letter and moved the SF-424 due date for three WIOA funding streams to…
Application for final WIA Section 503 incentive grants
ETA explained how eligible states could apply for WIA Section 503 incentive grants based on Program Year 2013 performance and how they could use the awards. The letter identified three eligible…
Sector Partnership National Emergency Grants
ETA announced up to $150 million in Sector Partnership National Emergency Grants. It described who could apply, the proposed workforce strategies, and grant administration and reporting…
Program Year 2015 WIA performance goal negotiations
ETA expected states to carry their Program Year 2014 WIA and Wagner-Peyser performance goals into 2015, but explained how a state could negotiate revised goals. Three attachments give a timeline,…
Program Year 2015 WIOA and Wagner-Peyser allotments
ETA gave states and outlying areas Program Year 2015 WIOA, Wagner-Peyser, and workforce information allotments. Eight attachments provide formulas and allotment tables. Change 1 rescinded this…
Extension of agricultural outreach plans and farmworker office designations
ETA extended states’ existing agricultural outreach plans and migrant and seasonal farmworker state and local office designations through June 30, 2016. States did not need to submit updated plans…
Blank pictogram frames on chemical labels
A chemical-distributor group asked whether preprinted chemical labels may leave unused red pictogram frames empty or fill them with words such as “Intentionally Blank.” OSHA said neither is…
Combustible-dust accumulation depth for low-density dusts
OSHA gave inspectors a way to adjust combustible-dust layer depth when the material’s bulk density is below 75 pounds per cubic foot. It instructs them to consider sample density and accumulation…
2014 Work Opportunity Tax Credit reauthorization and 2015 lapse
ETA informed state workforce agencies that Congress had retroactively reauthorized the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for 2014. It gave instructions for processing employer certification requests…
WIOA transition and workforce board governance
ETA told states which workforce governance steps to take before WIOA took effect in July 2015, including state board appointments and local area designation policies. Its attachments set out state…
Rapid Response funds for WIOA transition costs
ETA gave states temporary flexibility to use some Rapid Response funds for WIOA implementation work during program years 2012 through 2015. The letter explains the funding limits, permitted…
2015 SCSEP grant plans and funding allotments
ETA told Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees how to apply for program year 2015 funds and provided their funding and authorized position allotments. Six attachments contain the…
2015 National Farmworker Jobs Program grant planning
ETA instructed National Farmworker Jobs Program grantees on their program year 2015 plans and performance goals as the program moved from WIA to WIOA. Three attachments provide employment, training,…
U and T visa certification procedures: addendum
WHD added forced labor, extortion, and foreign-labor-contracting fraud to the activities it may certify for U visas and set procedures for T visa law-enforcement certifications arising from…
Disaster unemployment assistance amounts for spring 2015
ETA sent state workforce agencies the minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance weekly benefit amounts for major disasters declared from April through June 2015. The attachment lists each state's…
Fiscal year 2015 reemployment service grants
ETA invited state workforce agencies to apply for fiscal year 2015 reemployment services and eligibility assessment grants. It explained the transition from the older assessment program, set service…
WIOA youth program transition guidance
ETA guided states and local workforce areas through the move from WIA youth formula programs to WIOA. It explained the new out-of-school youth spending requirement, youth service oversight, and how…
Unknown acute toxicity statements on mixture labels
A chemical company asked when a mixture must state that some ingredients have unknown acute toxicity for a particular exposure route. OSHA said the statement is required only when the mixture is…
Veterans' entered employment rate threshold and compliance
ETA and the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service explained how the national threshold for entered employment rates would be applied to each state's reported outcomes for veterans and eligible…
Restarting interrupted qualitative respirator fit tests
A university requester asked whether a Saccharin or Bitrex respirator fit test may resume after the wearer stops and removes the test hood. OSHA said the entire procedure, including taste-threshold…
2015 Work Opportunity Tax Credit funding allotments
ETA gave state workforce agencies their fiscal year 2015 funds for administering the Work Opportunity Tax Credit through September 30, 2015. It also gave reporting instructions during a lapse in…
Fiscal year 2015 state unemployment insurance allocations
ETA gave state unemployment insurance agencies their fiscal year 2015 base allocations and instructions for above-base funding and supplemental budget requests. The letter describes resource…
2015 Trade Adjustment Assistance funding allocations
ETA gave state workforce agencies their initial fiscal year 2015 Trade Adjustment Assistance allocations and explained the funding formula. It also described how states could request reserve funds…
2015 benefit accuracy measurement reporting schedule
ETA set deadlines for state workforce agencies to complete and check their 2015 unemployment insurance benefit accuracy data before the Department's publication. It explained when states should…
Corrected effective date for 2015 military pension adjustment
ETA corrected its earlier military pension letter: the cost-of-living adjustments took effect December 1, 2014. It told states whose unemployment laws offset benefits for pension income to apply the…
WIOA workforce system vision and first implementation steps
ETA described its vision for the workforce system under WIOA and urged state and local leaders to begin implementation work. It identified initial steps and forthcoming guidance and technical…
Fall-protection enforcement policies for electric utility work
OSHA set conditional enforcement policies for fall arrest in bucket-type aerial lifts and on towers during electric utility work. The memo allows specified arrangements when certain anchorages or…
Temporary enforcement dates for electric-power safety rules
OSHA ended an earlier temporary citation policy and set staged enforcement dates for updated electric-power safety rules, including information transfer, arc protection, fall protection and approach…
Electric utility tree-trimming scope under 1910.269
OSHA said its electric-power rule covers line-clearance tree trimming only when done to clear power lines or equipment and on behalf of the organization operating or controlling them. Trimming for a…
Kneeling, lifting and ergonomic hazards for veterinary staff
A veterinary worker asked about protection from knee, ankle and back injuries caused by kneeling, squatting and lifting animals. OSHA said it has no specific rule limiting time in those postures or…
Veterans' significant barriers to employment for DVOP services
This change to TEGL 19-13 expanded and clarified the significant barriers to employment that make veterans and eligible spouses eligible for Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialist services.…
Securing oxygen cylinders on mobile medical equipment
A medical-equipment company asked what “secure” means when moving oxygen cylinders on mobile equipment. OSHA said the requirement is performance based: cylinders must be prevented from falling,…
Small-package accommodation for chemical hazard labels
A trade group proposed a shortened label for very small adhesive packages. OSHA said an accommodation is possible only when full information cannot be supplied using pull-out labels, tags or similar…
Medical review for asbestos workers using respirators
A school district asked about workers doing Class III asbestos work for fewer than 30 days a year while wearing negative-pressure respirators. OSHA said they do not meet the 30-day surveillance…
Foreign hazard classifications and downstream alloy processing
A chemical company asked whether U.S. labels may also show foreign hazard classifications and whether metal-alloy hazards arising during welding or grinding must be classified. OSHA said foreign…
2015 poverty guidelines for SCSEP eligibility
ETA instructed Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees to use the 2015 federal poverty guidelines, multiplied by 125 percent, when checking applicants' income eligibility. Its…
Unemployment insurance improper payment rate measure
ETA revised the unemployment insurance improper payment rate measure used for state performance. The calculation adds overpayments and underpayments, excludes payments treated as technically proper…
2015 pension adjustments and unemployment benefit offsets
ETA told state workforce agencies that Social Security survivor and retirement annuities and federal civilian pensions had a cost-of-living increase for 2015. States whose unemployment laws offset…
2015 military pension cost-of-living adjustments
ETA sent state workforce agencies military retirement and survivor annuity cost-of-living adjustment information for states whose unemployment laws offset benefits for pensions. This original letter…
Fiscal year 2015 sequestration of delayed benefit payments
ETA clarified how fiscal year 2015 sequestration applied when unemployment program benefits or related administrative costs from earlier years were paid late. It said the 2015 reduction applied to…
2015 federal salary rates for unemployment claims
ETA pointed state workforce agencies to the 2015 federal General Schedule salary rates for 31 locality pay areas. It said states could use those rates with other documentation to estimate…
2015 interest rate on federal unemployment advances
ETA told state workforce agencies that Treasury would charge 2.3385 percent interest on repayable Title XII unemployment advances during calendar year 2015. It reminded states that interest is…
Hepatitis B tests and protective equipment in dental offices
A dentist asked about hepatitis B antibody testing after vaccination, payment for source-patient testing, disposal of contaminated supplies and protective clothing. OSHA pointed to then-current CDC…
Treasury offsets for unpaid employer unemployment taxes
ETA updated state unemployment agencies on using the Treasury Offset Program to collect unpaid employer unemployment taxes from federal tax refunds. It describes eligible employer debt, how to…
Revised modification process for National Emergency Grants
ETA revised the process for National Emergency Grant recipients to request changes to existing grants. The letter explains the types of modifications and the documents grantees must submit through…
Replacement servers for state unemployment databases
ETA told state workforce agencies it planned to replace their unemployment database servers, with a projected completion date of March 2015. The letter explains the data transfer and return process…
Disaster unemployment assistance amounts for early 2015
ETA sent state workforce agencies the minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance weekly benefit amounts for major disasters declared from January through March 2015. Its attachment lists each state's…
2015 appropriations to continue Trade Adjustment Assistance
ETA told state agencies that new fiscal year 2015 appropriations allowed Trade Adjustment Assistance and related programs to continue through September 30, 2015. It said TEGL 14-14's warning about…
Hazard communication for railroad crews moving hazardous materials
A rail labor representative asked whether OSHA’s hazard-communication rule applies to train crews handling hazardous materials. OSHA said federal transportation rules do not preempt its…
Empty red pictogram frames on chemical labels
A chemical company asked whether unused preprinted red pictogram frames could say “Intentionally Blank” or be crossed out. OSHA said no; a red diamond without a hazard symbol is not an allowed…
Safety data sheets for concentrates and multi-component kits
A distributor asked about safety sheets for concentrates diluted by customers and for kits with separate chemical compartments. OSHA said the supplied concentrate needs a sheet reflecting its…
Uniform grant guidance for ETA awards and new funding
ETA explained how the new federal Uniform Guidance applies to its grants from December 26, 2014. New awards and new funds added to existing awards receive the new terms; earlier awards without new…
Kinesiology tape as medical treatment for injury records
A requester asked whether applying kinesiology tape counts as medical treatment under OSHA’s injury-recordkeeping rule. OSHA said yes: it is akin to physical therapy and exceeds the listed first-aid…
Respirator medical records shared across employers
A requester asked whether unions or contractor associations may maintain respirator medical evaluations and share clearance recommendations when workers change employers. OSHA said the employer…
Ammonium nitrate storage enforcement guidance
OSHA instructed inspectors how to assess ammonium nitrate storage under 29 CFR 1910.109(i) after the West Fertilizer explosion. The memorandum addresses ventilation, floors, bin materials, pile…
TAA program operations if 2014 funding expired
ETA told state agencies how Trade Adjustment Assistance programs would operate after December 31, 2014 if Congress did not extend funding. Its appendix reproduced the applicable termination…
Grouping hazard-label elements on chemical containers
A chemical maker asked whether all six required hazard-label elements must appear in one field of view on a product container. OSHA said only the signal word, hazard statements and pictograms must…
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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.