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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Federal Reserve benefit programs as governmental plans
The Federal Reserve System asked whether twelve employee benefit programs were governmental plans excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA said the System is a federal agency or instrumentality for this…
Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance activities reporting
ETA instructed state workforce agencies to report quarterly activity for Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance, a wage subsidy program for some older workers affected by trade. It specified the…
Administrative and professional exemptions for a senior legal analyst
A corporate senior legal analyst asked whether the position qualified for the administrative or professional exemption. WHD said the described duties did not satisfy the administrative discretion…
Learned professional exemption for respiratory therapists
A hospital asked whether its salaried respiratory therapists qualified for the learned professional exemption. WHD said no for the described positions: entry to the field could follow a two-year…
Former paid firefighter volunteering after resignation
A city asked whether a council member who resigned from a paid firefighter job to settle a conflict-of-interest case could then volunteer as a firefighter. WHD said the resignation and settlement…
Holiday payments to firefighters who work on holidays
A fire department asked whether separate holiday payments belonged in the regular rate used for overtime when firefighters worked through a holiday. WHD said the described payments could be excluded…
Employee-owned battery devices in hazardous locations
A consultant asked whether portable battery devices count as electrical equipment and whether an employer must check employee-owned devices used in hazardous work locations. OSHA said the devices…
Unemployment data validation activities for 2007 and 2008
ETA suspended software-based unemployment data validation submissions for validation year 2007 while it repaired software and database problems. It told state agencies which other checks still had…
Removing field locks from an electric-power group lockbox
A generating facility asked whether a supervisor could cut or otherwise remove a field lock for equipment testing instead of retrieving its key from a group lockbox. OSHA said that would bypass each…
Wet saws and silica controls in masonry cutting
A requester asked whether OSHA required a wet saw to cut brick or concrete block. OSHA said the cited saw-guarding and air-contaminant rules did not name a wet saw, though wet cutting could control…
Personal control of field locks during power-plant testing
A power plant asked whether a supervisor could remove a field lock for testing before workers removed their personal locks from a group lockbox. OSHA said doing so bypasses individual control of…
Pressure-vessel construction at oil and gas production sites
An oil and gas operator asked whether processing vessels must meet ASME Code requirements, including nameplates and records. OSHA said the cited storage and refinery provisions did not govern the…
Open-heeled shoes and pharmacy foot protection
A pharmacist asked whether employees could wear partly open-heeled shoes. OSHA said it had no shoe-style rule specific to open heels. Protective footwear is required when workers face listed…
Recordkeeping for annual wages paid in semi-monthly checks
A school board asked whether its records met the FLSA requirement to show payment dates and covered pay periods when annual wages were spread over 24 checks. WHD said the described worksheets, pay…
BRAC 2005 National Emergency Grant implementation and eligibility
ETA told states when they could modify existing National Emergency Grant planning awards or seek new funds for workers and communities affected by 2005 military base closures and realignments. It…
Pickup trucks and powered-industrial-truck standards
An employer asked whether OSHA’s powered-industrial-truck standard covers ordinary pickup trucks. OSHA answered no: the cited standard does not apply to over-the-road vehicles. The letter addresses…
Process-safety records and ammonia controls, updated response
A process-safety consultant asked ten questions on management-of-change records, permits, team composition, lockout procedures, drills, respirator testing, and ammonia refrigeration. OSHA gave…
Process-safety records and original ammonia-control response
A process-safety consultant asked ten questions on record retention, permits, team membership, lockout, drills, respirator testing, and ammonia refrigeration. OSHA’s original response 10 rejected…
Cash shortage deductions from exempt employees' commissions
An employer asked whether deducting cash shortages from commissions would undo salaried employees' FLSA exemption. WHD said such deductions from genuine extra commissions would not affect the…
Agricultural overtime exemption for dairy farm work
A dairy employer asked whether workers growing alfalfa and caring for its herd could be paid straight time after a wage increase. WHD said those described tasks fell within the FLSA definition of…
Administrative exemption for public project land agents
A land acquisition firm asked whether its acquisition, relocation, and property management agents qualified for the administrative exemption. WHD said all three described roles did, based on their…
Prospective hourly-rate changes based on prior-quarter performance
An employer proposed changing route drivers' hourly rates each quarter based on the previous quarter's performance, with a guaranteed base rate and overtime at time and a half. WHD said the plan…
Flat-rate pay as commissions for auto detailers and painters
An auto dealership asked whether flat-rate 'flag hour' payments to detailers and painters counted as commissions for the retail overtime exemption. WHD said they did under the described plan because…
Administrative exemption for a bid-review employee
An environmental consultant asked whether an employee who edited government bid proposals, checked estimates and prepared status reports was administratively exempt. WHD said the work applied known…
HOME-assisted housing and Davis-Bacon threshold
WHD reviewed a 180-unit rehabilitation project with fewer than 12 units assisted by HOME funds. It affirmed HUD’s view that the Davis-Bacon wage requirement tied to 12 or more HOME-assisted units…
Fiscal year 2007 unemployment insurance state quality service plans
ETA instructed state workforce agencies how to prepare their fiscal year 2007 unemployment insurance State Quality Service Plans. It identified performance goals, when corrective action plans were…
Fiscal year 2007 unemployment insurance resource planning targets
ETA provided state workforce agencies preliminary fiscal year 2007 unemployment insurance funding and staffing targets for their planning. It explained the allocation method, allowed most shifts…
Denali visitor transport concession under the SCA
WHD reconsidered its 2004 ruling on a Denali National Park concession contract. It reaffirmed that visitor transportation made the contract subject to the Service Contract Act; serving the public…
Retail commission exemption for plumbing repair technicians
A plumbing repair franchise group asked whether its service technicians could use the FLSA retail commission overtime exemption. WHD said a member could qualify if at least 75 percent of its sales…
Companionship exemption in supported living homes
An agency asked whether workers living in supported homes for people with developmental disabilities qualified for the FLSA companionship-services exemption. WHD said the described homes were not…
Compensable time for officers transporting prisoners
A union asked whether a contract could limit pay for police officers transporting prisoners to eight hours per day. WHD said officers guarding prisoners and the public are working while traveling,…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance benefits for July–September 2006
ETA gave state workforce agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts to use for major disasters declared from July through September 2006. Its table lists each…
Life jackets inside crane cabs and enclosed barge areas
A construction company asked if barge workers on non-navigable water could remove life jackets inside a crane cab or enclosed break area. OSHA said the barge could capsize, so those areas did not…
Sandals and bloodborne-pathogen protection in medical offices
A pediatric practice asked whether staff may wear sandals and whether socks make them acceptable. OSHA said shoe style alone is not the rule: employers must assess whether blood or other potentially…
Rescission of FY 2006 WIA adult and dislocated worker funds
ETA told states how to apply a one percent federal funding rescission to Workforce Investment Act Adult and Dislocated Worker allocations. It set minimum local shares and maximum statewide and rapid…
Tools on stepladder tops and colors used on construction sites
A requester asked if workers could leave tools in manufacturer-designed holes atop a self-supporting ladder and whether red and yellow tape could mark nonsafety locations. OSHA said no cited…
Concrete form-panel ribs used as a fixed ladder
A contractor asked whether horizontal ribs on a vertical concrete form could count as a fixed ladder. OSHA said that use would fit the fixed-ladder definition, but the pictured ribs appeared flush…
Washing facilities for electrical construction contaminants
An electrical contractor asked whether contact with conduit coatings, oils, glues, and other irritating materials triggers construction washing-facility rules. OSHA said the rule reaches operations…
Program Year 2006 farmworker housing grant planning
ETA instructed National Farmworker Jobs Program housing grantees to submit their 2006 annual plans, budgets, and timelines by June 28, 2006. It described separate plans for permanent and temporary…
Program Year 2006 National Farmworker Jobs Program grant plans
ETA told National Farmworker Jobs Program grantees what to submit for their 2006 grant plans, including a budget, service strategy, timeline, and performance measures. The letter set a June 28, 2006…
Tips and restaurant uniform cleaning costs
A restaurant association asked whether servers' tips or wages could pay for uniform cleaning. WHD said an employer using a tip credit could not take any of the servers' tips for its own uniform…
Tax Performance System Handbook ET 407 extension
ETA told state workforce agencies that federal approval for Tax Performance System Handbook ET 407 reporting had been extended through January 31, 2009. It gave the approval number and estimated…
National Directory of New Hires use for unemployment insurance integrity
ETA encouraged state unemployment agencies to use National Directory of New Hires matches to find benefits paid after claimants returned to work. It reported a three-state pilot that found…
Partial overtime exemption for firefighter paramedics
Public agencies asked whether dual-function firefighter paramedics qualified for the FLSA's partial overtime rule for fire protection employees. WHD said the described workers did, because they were…
Off-duty firearm training time for police officers
A city asked whether police officers must be paid for required training on firearms they choose to carry off duty. On the stated assumption that state law requires the training, WHD said training…
Employees volunteering as youth trip chaperones or bingo helpers
A youth club asked whether paid employees could volunteer as field trip chaperones or help run bingo fundraisers. WHD said they could if they volunteered freely outside normal work hours and the…
FLSA coverage of a town finance committee secretary
A town asked whether its finance committee's executive secretary was covered by the FLSA. WHD said the role fell within the Act's exclusion for certain legislative-branch employees because the…
Part-time salary, exemption threshold and weekly overtime
A worker asked whether a half-time job paying less than the then-applicable $455 weekly salary threshold could still be salaried and how hour limits worked. WHD said the worker generally would not…
Small personnel and burden carriers at construction sites
An employer asked whether small motorized personnel and burden carriers used on off-highway construction sites fall under the construction motor-vehicle standard. OSHA said yes: the standard’s…
Walking time after protective-gear work
WHD told investigators that, after employees put on required protective gear as a principal activity, walking and waiting before their last principal activity can be compensable. It applied the…
H-2B labor certification procedures for entertainment work
ETA directed entertainment employers seeking H-2B labor certification to file with a designated state office in New York City, Austin, or Sacramento. The office reviews the application, prevailing…
Retention of zero readings from toxic-gas monitoring
A semiconductor facility asked whether it must retain continuous toxic-gas readings that say zero or not detected. OSHA said all environmental-monitoring results, including nondetects and supporting…
Revised interpretation of TAA training enrollment deadline
ETA revised its interpretation of the 2002 trade adjustment program: before the applicable training enrollment deadline, a worker could qualify for Trade Readjustment Allowances, and potentially the…
Service contract health benefits during FMLA leave
A service contractor asked who must pay for group health coverage when an employee takes unpaid FMLA leave and health benefits normally come through a contract fringe-benefit trust. WHD said the…
Combining foreign and U.S. pay for the exempt salary level
An accounting firm asked whether U.S. wages and foreign-currency pay could be combined to meet the salary level for executive, administrative, or professional exemptions. WHD said they could when…
Outside sales exemption for charitable donation solicitors
A fundraising company asked whether staff soliciting donations in public qualified for the outside sales exemption. WHD said no for both local and traveling solicitors: obtaining charitable promises…
Covered drinks at hospital nursing stations
A nurse asked whether a covered drink is prohibited at a hospital nursing station. OSHA said there is no blanket ban, but employers must prohibit eating or drinking wherever blood, other infectious…
Unsanitary portable toilets on construction sites
A requester asked whether an unsanitary portable toilet counts toward the minimum number of construction-site toilets. OSHA said no: an unusable toilet is not available to workers and therefore is…
Guarding a portable concrete mixer’s engine and drive
A mixer owner asked whether the engine cover must stay closed if no moving parts seem exposed. OSHA said the pictured engine and drive covers were designed as guards and had to be used; the raised…
Program Year 2006 SCSEP state grants and allotments
ETA gave state Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees instructions for their 2006 grant applications, including budgets, performance goals and an allotment table. The state allotment…
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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.