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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Pre-employment audiograms as hearing-test baselines
A corrections agency asked if it could test hearing before a worker’s first noise exposure. OSHA said a baseline audiogram may be taken before or after first exposure, within the rule’s six-month…
Generic safety data sheets and electronic access
A data-sheet provider asked about generic material safety data sheets and online repositories. OSHA said sheets lacking product-specific hazards or a responsible party did not meet the then-current…
Interim decontamination for Class I asbestos work
An insulation association asked if workers could leave an elevated asbestos work area for breaks before reaching a remote shower. OSHA said the described remote shower layout generally met the rule…
Indirect plan interests under the QPAM exemption
A requester asked how a QPAM should apply a 10 percent plan-investor test when one investment fund buys into another. EBSA said the second fund’s manager need not trace plan interests through the…
Remote disconnect controls and the lockout minor-servicing exception
A manufacturer asked whether its remote disconnect could replace a lockout energy-isolating device. OSHA said no: control-circuit devices are not the mechanical isolators required for general…
Chromium VI skin-hazard assessments for stainless-steel welding
A welding employer asked what airborne chromium level required protective clothing against skin exposure. OSHA said the rule sets no such air concentration threshold. Employers must evaluate skin…
Revised minimum disaster unemployment benefits for early 2007
ETA reissued the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from January through March 2007, adding Mississippi's average weekly benefit amount to the…
OMB clearance extension for ETA-227 overpayment report
ETA informed states that OMB extended approval for the ETA-227 Overpayment Detection and Recovery Activities report through January 31, 2010, under control number 1205-0173. The report supports…
OMB clearance extension for Benefit Accuracy Measurement
ETA informed states that OMB approved collection for the Benefit Accuracy Measurement program under control number 1205-0245 through August 31, 2009. The letter described investigation burdens for…
Completion and publication of 2006 UI Benefit Accuracy Measurement data
ETA instructed states to complete 2006 Benefit Accuracy Measurement paid and denied claims cases by April 30, 2007, reconcile state and federal data, and submit discrepancies by June 1. It supplied…
Administrative exemption for school resource officers
A school district asked whether its school resource officers qualified for the administrative exemption. WHD said the described officers did because their main work involved school safety planning,…
Special H-2A procedures for itinerant animal shearing
ETA set special H-2A labor certification procedures for employers hiring temporary workers to shear sheep, goats, alpacas and other animals along an itinerary. Its attachment addresses application…
Special H-2A procedures for custom combine crews
ETA set special H-2A labor certification procedures for multi-state custom combine owners and operators hiring temporary crew members. The attached procedures address filing, itineraries,…
H-2A worker abandonment and termination reporting
ETA clarified what H-2A employers must report to state workforce agencies when a worker abandons a job, is rejected or is terminated. The change sets written notice details and a two-business-day…
Special H-2A procedures for open range livestock work
ETA set special H-2A labor certification procedures for employers seeking temporary workers in open range livestock production. Its attachment addresses job orders, recruitment, wages and housing…
2007 poverty guidelines for senior employment eligibility
ETA issued 2007 federal poverty guidelines, adjusted to 125 percent, for determining and recertifying eligibility in the Senior Community Service Employment Program. It told grantees to use the…
Case managers for people with disabilities and exemptions
A service provider asked whether case managers who assess needs and arrange services for people with disabilities met the administrative exemption. WHD said they did not because their principal work…
Exempt employee salary deductions for state family leave
An employer asked whether state family leave for school activities and routine appointments could reduce exempt employees' salaries or leave balances. WHD said a salary deduction could be made for a…
De minimis policy for rope-guided chimney personnel hoists
A chimney contractor asked whether it could use procedures from earlier variance grants before receiving its own variance. OSHA said specified departures would be treated as de minimis only for…
Documenting workers’ prior hepatitis B vaccinations
A laboratory asked how to document a new worker’s earlier hepatitis B vaccination. OSHA said employers should seek dated records from prior employers or providers and document those efforts; if…
Outside first aid response and bloodborne-pathogen medical records
A clinical laboratory asked if it could rely on a nearby fire department, train voluntary responders, and use employee numbers in medical records. OSHA said outside care must be reliably prompt,…
When a workplace needs first aid supplies
A worker asked if every workplace must provide a first aid kit. OSHA said an employer may rely on a nearby hospital, infirmary or clinic for all first aid instead of providing its own service. Where…
Radiology technologists and the professional exemption
An employer asked whether radiology technologists qualified for the FLSA learned professional exemption. WHD said they did not on the described education and duties, despite registration and…
Face protection when uncapping safety blood collection tubes
A laboratory asked whether a blood collection tube’s anti-spatter cap removed the need for face shielding. OSHA said employers must assess reasonably anticipated eye, nose and mouth exposure. A…
Rail attachments on mobile construction scaffolds
A product maker asked if an added rail on a mobile scaffold violated OSHA’s scaffold rules. OSHA declined to endorse the product and said a rail used as required fall protection at ten feet or more…
Outside sales exemption for resort timeshare staff
A resort asked whether three groups of timeshare salespeople met the outside sales exemption. WHD said none did on the stated facts because all sales work occurred at the employer's sales office or…
Executive exemption for construction project superintendent
A construction company asked whether a project superintendent qualified for the executive exemption. WHD said the described role did, assuming the superintendent actually managed a recognized…
Outside sales exemption for new-home sales staff
A homebuilder association asked whether staff selling newly built homes from temporary model-home offices qualified for the outside sales exemption. WHD said the described staff did because their…
Outside sales exemption for residential sales associates
A homebuilder asked whether sales associates based at subdivision offices qualified for the outside sales exemption. WHD said yes because selling homes was their main duty and they regularly left…
Protective clothing for chromium VI thermal spraying
A thermal-spray employer asked if workers exposed to chromium VI fumes could wear short sleeves in hot weather. OSHA said no fixed airborne concentration dictates skin protection; the employer must…
Providing chemical data sheets to multiple employer sites
A safety-data-sheet service asked if a chemical manufacturer could send one sheet to an employer’s headquarters instead of each site receiving the product. OSHA said the then-current rule required a…
WIA and Wagner-Peyser state plan modifications and waivers
ETA instructed states how to modify Workforce Investment Act and Wagner-Peyser plans for program years 2007 and 2008, extend existing waivers and seek new ones. Its original submission deadline was…
Meaning of annual safety training
A workers’ compensation official asked what OSHA means by training “at least annually.” OSHA said it means at least once every twelve months, with scheduling reasonably close to the anniversary date…
Locked first aid cabinets and emergency access
A medical services company asked whether an employer could lock a first aid cabinet. OSHA said yes, but the supplies must still be readily accessible when needed. Where the employer relies on…
Investment advice and QPAM exemption conditions
A requester asked whether investment advice by a counterparty’s subsidiary to plan participants defeated a QPAM exemption for a separate account transaction. EBSA said that relationship alone did…
2007 locality pay adjustments for federal employees
ETA told state workforce agencies where to find 2007 locality pay rates for General Schedule federal employees in 31 pay areas. It explained when the rates took effect and the federal payments for…
FY 2007 reemployment measure for UI beneficiaries
ETA explained how states measured the share of unemployment beneficiaries reemployed by the following quarter and supplied the baseline and fiscal 2007 target for that federal performance measure.…
Farmworker van program and transportation duties
WHD analyzed a county van program carrying seasonal farmworkers to fields and processing sites. It could not decide from the facts whether the drivers were FLSA volunteers, but said limited personal…
Building-owner asbestos notices to tenants
A building consultant asked if tenant notices were required only when asbestos would be disturbed. OSHA said the construction rule requires notice of asbestos location and quantity when construction…
Boom-mounted personnel platforms under former crane rules
A utility asked which construction crane provisions covered boom-mounted personnel platforms. Under the then-current rule, OSHA said the suspended-platform provision did not apply; employers had to…
Annual bloodborne-pathogen training despite other advanced training
A federal laboratory asked whether more stringent biosafety courses excused annual OSHA bloodborne-pathogen training. OSHA said exposed civilian and contractor employees still need the annual…
Rapid HIV testing after a workplace blood exposure
An infection-control consultant asked whether a medical facility violated OSHA’s bloodborne-pathogens rule by not using rapid HIV antibody testing after an exposure. OSHA said source blood must be…
2006 federal military pension cost-of-living increases
ETA gave state workforce agencies the 2006 military retirement pay cost-of-living increases and the Defense Department source for them. It instructed states whose laws offset unemployment benefits…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefit amounts for early 2007
ETA supplied state average weekly benefit figures for calculating minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance payments for major disasters declared from January through March 2007. It asked state…
2007 military wage schedule for ex-service member UI
ETA instructed state workforce agencies to use the revised federal military remuneration schedule when deciding Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers first claims filed from the first…
Federal pension COLAs and Social Security reference for 2007
ETA informed state workforce agencies of cost-of-living increases for Social Security survivors and old-age annuities and federal civilian pensions, effective December 2006. Its attachment gives the…
SCSEP income eligibility definitions and calculation
ETA revised which income counts toward Senior Community Service Employment Program eligibility and instructed grantees to compare a 12-month income period with annualized income from six months,…
SCSEP wage exclusion for housing and food assistance
ETA informed Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees that SCSEP participant wages are excluded from income eligibility calculations for federally funded housing programs and food stamps…
Lockout for power-press die setting and tool changes
A machine-safety consultant asked whether power-press die setting and other tool changes required lockout. OSHA said die setting is servicing covered by the lockout rule; safety blocks and…
Administrative exemption for film location managers
A film production employer asked whether location managers qualified for the administrative exemption. WHD said the described managers did because they chose and arranged filming sites, negotiated…
Administrative exemption for marketing copy editors
A book marketing firm asked whether copy editors and senior copy editors were exempt administrative employees. WHD said they were not: their main work of editing promotional material did not involve…
IRA purchase of notes from a relative-owned company
An IRA owner asked whether the IRA could buy notes issued by a company majority-owned by a son-in-law. EBSA said attribution rules made the company a disqualified person, so the purchase would be a…
FLSA computer employee exemption
WHD described the duties required for the FLSA computer employee exemption and its then-current salary or hourly pay thresholds. It said job titles alone do not qualify workers, and employees who…
Continued state access to UI wage-data index
ETA told state workforce agencies that a change in oversight of the Wage Record Interchange System did not require an interruption in their unemployment insurance data exchanges through the…
UI appeals case aging and determination timeliness
ETA asked states for comments on proposed acceptable performance levels for the average age of pending single-claimant unemployment appeals. It also reported its analysis of when to start measuring…
Volunteer firefighters also working paid shifts
A volunteer fire department asked whether its firefighters could also work paid part-time shifts under the FLSA. WHD said that, where the Act covers the work, the same employer cannot treat…
2007 areas of substantial unemployment for WIA funding
ETA requested state designations of areas of substantial unemployment for use in allocating Workforce Investment Act youth and adult funds for program year 2007. It gave the area definition, data…
Seaman overtime exemption for a boat captain
An employer asked whether its boat captain qualified for the FLSA seaman overtime exemption. WHD said the exemption applied in each workweek when at least 80 percent of the captain's working time…
Retaining old baseline audiograms after changing test vendors
A hearing-test vendor asked whether it could replace questionable old baseline audiograms that used nonstandard increments. OSHA said the original baselines must continue to be used and retained,…
Monthly visual inspection of portable fire extinguishers
An employer proposed replacing monthly visual checks of portable fire extinguishers with quarterly performance-based inspections. OSHA said the rule expressly requires monthly checks and saw no…
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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.