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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2007 federal military retired pay adjustment and unemployment benefit offsets
ETA announced December 2007 military retired pay cost of living increases and instructed states whose laws offset unemployment benefits for pensions to identify affected claimants and apply the…
Reporting postage and other special unemployment administrative costs
ETA instructed states on reporting postage, Trade Readjustment Allowances administration, and SAVE program administration in the Resource Justification Model. It distinguished the amounts to report…
Reporting postage, TRA, and SAVE expenditures through the Resource Justification Model
ETA instructed state workforce agencies how to classify postage, Trade Readjustment Allowance administration, and SAVE administration as Non-RJM expenditures. Postage was to be reported at the…
Continuation of TAA and ATAA programs through fiscal 2008
Before the scheduled December 31, 2007 sunset, Congress funded the Trade Adjustment Assistance and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance programs for fiscal 2008. ETA told state workforce agencies…
Flammable-liquid storage, ventilation, and process tanks
A pharmaceutical plant asked nine questions about flammable-liquid use, ventilation, transfers, and tank vents. OSHA distinguished incidental storage from production operations, described a…
Pension proxy votes and public policy campaigns
A requester asked whether pension fiduciaries could use plan assets to press public policy or political issues through shareholder resolutions. EBSA said doing so violates fiduciary prudence and…
Quiet time before workplace audiometric testing
An employer asked whether workers need two days away from noise before hearing tests. OSHA said a baseline audiogram needs 14 hours without workplace noise, and hearing protection may substitute;…
When a skylight serves as a fall-protection cover
A roofing contractor asked whether a manufacturer’s claimed 775-pound skylight rating removed the need for separate fall protection. OSHA said it does not endorse the product; a skylight may be…
Workers in a trench box while a backhoe lowers materials
A contractor asked whether a worker could stay in a trench box while a backhoe lowered pipe. OSHA said a worker cannot be underneath the load. A worker elsewhere in the trench box may remain only if…
Foreign labor certification grants for December 2007 CR
ETA gave state workforce agencies their alien labor certification grant allocations under the continuing resolution running December 15 through December 21, 2007. The attached table lists each state…
WIA funds for workforce and economic development
ETA explained which workforce development activities could be paid for with Workforce Investment Act funds as part of regional economic development strategies. It distinguished training and…
Podium ladder classified as a mobile scaffold
A construction company asked which rules governed a pictured podium ladder. OSHA said the device’s raised work platform made it a scaffold, so the scaffold rules applied; casters also triggered…
Hazardous-waste driver training and equivalent HAZWOPER training
A Vermont town asked if a driver hauling contaminated soil needed further HAZWOPER training. OSHA said coverage may not apply if the employer can show no exposure or reasonable possibility of…
Foreign labor certification grants for November 2007 CR
ETA advised state workforce agencies of alien labor certification grant allocations under the continuing resolution running November 17 through December 14, 2007. The attached table lists…
Working from a portable stepladder and fall protection
A construction safety consultant asked whether workers could work from portable stepladders and needed fall protection while on them. OSHA said working from a stepladder is not categorically barred,…
Suspended crane spreader bars, tag lines, and welding cable lugs
A construction employer asked if an operator could leave a spreader bar suspended, when tag lines were needed, and what a welding-cable lug rule covered. Under the crane provisions cited in 2007,…
Limited outsourcing of unemployment claims intake
ETA said states may outsource the rote collection of information for unemployment claims when the contractor does not provide eligibility advice or exercise substantial discretion. Questions and…
H-2A application processing procedures, Change 1
ETA revised its H-2A labor certification processing instructions for state workforce agencies and national processing centers, covering filing, worker referrals, and housing. The letter rescinded…
Outdoor asbestos gasket work and glove-bag controls
A contractor asked whether outdoor work on asbestos-containing gaskets escaped glove-bag requirements. OSHA said indoor and outdoor Class III work share exposure-control requirements; particular…
Fixed-ladder cage enforcement and historical citation counts
A correspondent asked if OSHA enforced former fixed-ladder cage diagram provisions and how often it had cited them. OSHA said those provisions could be cited and gave citation and fatality counts…
Asbestos Class III and IV training for building maintenance
A building owner asked whether maintenance contractors trained only for Class IV asbestos work needed Class III training. OSHA said separate groups can work at one site, but anyone likely to disturb…
Foreign labor certification grants for October 2007 CR
ETA advised state workforce agencies of alien labor certification grant allocations under the continuing resolution running October 1 through November 16, 2007. The attachment lists state…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for late 2007
ETA sent states minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared October 1 through December 31, 2007. Its attachment lists state calculations based on average…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance benefit amounts, October–December 2007
ETA gave state workforce agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared during October through December 2007, based on each jurisdiction's average…
WIA incentive and sanction policy
ETA revised how state Workforce Investment Act Title I performance results affected incentive grants and sanctions. It explained performance measures, reporting, corrective action, and appeals. The…
Two qualified workers at an energized pad-mounted transformer
An electrical union asked whether one employee could install or repair secondary cable in an energized transformer where contact with higher-voltage parts was possible. OSHA said the described work…
Safety needles for patients who self-infuse at home
A pharmacy supplier asked if it had to ship safety needles for patients who self-infuse or for outside home-health professionals. OSHA said its rule protects employees, so it did not require safety…
Disaster unemployment benefit amounts for late 2006
ETA sent state workforce agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October through December 2006. The original table gave the…
Military spouses as WIA dislocated workers, Change 1
ETA clarified that a military spouse’s loss of work after a service member’s permanent reassignment or discharge can satisfy both the termination and 'unlikely to return' parts of the Workforce…
FY 2008 TAA base allocations and reserve funds
ETA explained the formula for states’ fiscal 2008 Trade Adjustment Assistance training allocations and the process for requesting additional reserve funds. The letter also addressed job-search and…
PY 2008 substantial-unemployment area designations
ETA asked states to submit their areas of substantial unemployment for calculating Program Year 2008 Workforce Investment Act allotments. It gave the threshold, reference period, data rules, and…
Fall-arrest lanyard anchored at a worker’s feet
A contractor asked whether a named lanyard could comply when anchored at a worker’s feet. OSHA declined to approve the product and said foot-level anchorage is not categorically prohibited. The…
Optional online requests for state unemployment fund loans
ETA told states they could request Title XII unemployment fund advances and make voluntary repayments through its optional Loan and Repayment Application System instead of mailed letters. The…
UI program performance goals for fiscal 2006–2008
ETA reported how the unemployment insurance program performed against fiscal 2006 federal goals and announced targets for fiscal 2007 and 2008. An attachment breaks out state results for the…
Object-detecting backup alarms on construction equipment
A construction company asked whether a backup alarm that sounds only when it detects an object or person behind equipment could meet OSHA’s reverse-alarm rule. OSHA said it could, if it reliably…
HAZWOPER trainer qualifications and in-house courses
An environmental services company asked OSHA to assess three proposed HAZWOPER trainers and an in-house course. OSHA said it does not certify trainers or programs; the employer must ensure trainers…
Trainer qualifications and in-house HAZWOPER training
An environmental services company asked whether three employees could teach HAZWOPER courses and whether it could train workers in-house. OSHA said it does not certify trainers or programs; the…
Payments and volunteer status for public firefighters
A city asked whether tuition, insurance, retirement contributions and stipends would affect the FLSA status of volunteer firefighters and drivers. WHD accepted the tuition and described benefits as…
Executive exemption for livestock field inspectors
A cattle-producer association asked whether field inspectors managing permanent districts qualified for an FLSA exemption. WHD said the described inspectors met the executive exemption because they…
Difference between a column and a post in steel erection
An engineer asked when a vertical steel support is a column rather than a post. OSHA said a post must fit one of two defined loading and weight conditions. Height and the magnitude of the applied…
Work Opportunity Tax Credit reauthorization
ETA told state workforce agencies how to process Work Opportunity Tax Credit certification requests after the 2007 reauthorization and related program changes. It covered the designated community…
FLSA exemptions for a court reporter
WHD considered whether a court reporter qualified for the FLSA's executive, administrative or professional exemptions. It found that the described job met none of the three duties tests, so the…
Rail welfare trust as a MEWA not fully insured
A rail-employer welfare trust asked whether its arrangement was a fully insured multiple employer welfare arrangement. EBSA said it was a MEWA but the certificate did not unconditionally guarantee…
State leasing law and federal MEWA status
Nevada’s attorney general asked whether a state employee-leasing amendment changed a health arrangement’s multiple employer welfare arrangement status. EBSA said MEWA status is determined under…
Youth literacy and numeracy reporting, Change 1
ETA changed the literacy and numeracy reporting measure for youth workforce programs, with revised educational level descriptors and reporting tables in four attachments. It revised TEGL 17-05 on…
Submitting state unemployment law materials on Form MA 8-7
ETA reduced the categories of state unemployment law and program materials that states must submit to the Department using Form MA 8-7, and supplied the form and instructions. It rescinded an older…
Lids and secondary containers for operating-room regulated waste
A healthcare correspondent asked whether an operating-room regulated-waste receptacle needed a cover. OSHA said the container must be closable, but need not stay closed while actively in use; it…
Combustion-turbine confined-space reclassification and isolation
A worker asked whether a combustion turbine and exhaust duct could be reclassified as a non-permit confined space after shutdown. OSHA said potential atmospheric hazards from leaking fuel valves and…
Postal Service protective footwear and hazard assessments
A postal union asked whether OSHA had exempted postal facilities from protective-footwear requirements. OSHA said it could not trace the claimed statement and described no blanket variance.…
PY 2007 SCSEP application instructions and allotments
ETA instructed Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees on Program Year 2007 grant applications, allotments, and requirements under the 2006 Older Americans Act amendments. Six…
Federal equity in state employment property
ETA explained procedures for transferring federal equity in state real property acquired with Wagner-Peyser or unemployment compensation grant funds under a 2007 amendment. The letter addresses…
Interrupted hepatitis B vaccination series for exposed workers
A healthcare employer asked whether a new worker’s partly completed hepatitis B vaccination series had to start again. OSHA said the employer must provide vaccination at no cost to exposed employees…
HAZWOPER refresher training for agricultural emergency responders
A training center asked whether an eight-hour agricultural emergency-response course met annual HAZWOPER refresher requirements. OSHA said it might for operations-level and technician responders if…
Administrative funding limits for disaster unemployment assistance
ETA told states that FEMA requires advance coordination for paid disaster assistance announcements and prior approval when administration costs exceed 15 percent of requested benefits. It said FEMA…
Fit-testing full-facepiece powered air-purifying respirators
A respirator provider asked which fit test is required for a full-facepiece powered air-purifying respirator. OSHA said either qualitative or quantitative fit testing may be used for…
Apprenticeship program reimbursements to unions
An elevator industry education program asked whether reimbursing local unions for tuition they advanced for members' welding programs would violate ERISA transaction rules. EBSA said the described…
Small-farm standards and appropriations-based enforcement limit
A consultant asked whether an appropriations restriction erased OSHA standards for small farms. OSHA said the standards still applied, but the then-current law restricted enforcement at qualifying…
Fiscal year 2008 reemployment and eligibility assessment grants
ETA invited state agencies to propose continuing or new Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment programs for fiscal year 2008, with conditions on use of funds and proposal attachments. ETA now lists…
Biomedical technicians and SCA conformance
WHD reviewed a request to add biomedical engineering technician classifications to a federal service-contract wage determination. It found the request deficient and the technicians’ work within…
Registered Apprenticeship in workforce programs
ETA encouraged workforce boards and agencies to integrate Registered Apprenticeship into Workforce Investment Act training strategies. The letter described apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship,…
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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.