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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Aerial-lift and scaffold fall protection for power workers
A power-sector requester asked multiple questions about aerial-lift restraints, fall-arrest anchors, portable scaffolds, and training. OSHA explained its then-current tie-off and guardrail…
Restroom access and pay deductions at call centers
A former call-center worker asked whether employees can be clocked out or charged when they need unscheduled restroom breaks. OSHA said its sanitation rule requires reasonable access to toilets when…
FY2006 tuberculosis respirator fit-testing enforcement
OSHA directed staff not to inspect or cite employers for annual fit testing of respirators used for occupational tuberculosis exposure during fiscal year 2006 because of an appropriations…
Attendance bonus as a percentage of total earnings
An employer asked whether an attendance bonus set as the same percentage of an employee's straight-time and overtime earnings required a separate overtime adjustment. WHD said the described…
Fiscal 2006 state unemployment insurance administration funding
ETA explained fiscal 2006 funding for state unemployment insurance administration, including base allocations, contingency reserves, above-base reimbursements and supplemental budget requests. It…
Flexibility under current employment and training law for hurricane recovery strategies
ETA reviewed options under the Workforce Investment Act and Wagner-Peyser Act for areas affected by the 2005 hurricanes. It discussed statewide reserve funds, rapid response, needs related payments,…
2006 federal poverty guidelines for the Senior Community Service Employment Program
ETA told Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees to use the attached 2006 federal poverty and 125 percent income levels when determining or recertifying participant eligibility. The…
2006 interest rate on Title XII unemployment advances
ETA announced that the U.S. Treasury would charge 4.6256 percent interest on Title XII unemployment advances during calendar year 2006. It told states expecting an advance to arrange payment from…
Painted roof lines as an alternative to guardrails
An employer proposed a painted red line 15 feet from a roof edge to mark a work area when guardrails were infeasible. OSHA said the then-current rule did not allow the painted line and that its…
FMLA leave and next year's health plan hours requirement
An employer asked whether FMLA leave counted toward a labor agreement's 1,500-hour threshold for health coverage in the following year. WHD said the FMLA itself did not require those leave hours to…
Revising one-ear baseline audiograms
An audiologist asked whether a baseline hearing test should be revised for both ears when only one ear has a qualifying threshold shift. OSHA said only the affected ear’s baseline may be revised.…
Continuous fall protection on long fixed ladders
A power cooperative asked if continuous personal fall arrest could replace cages and platforms on long fixed ladders inside precipitators. OSHA said it would permit that alternative as equivalent…
Tax credit certification during the 2006 authorization lapse
When authority for the Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credits lapsed at the end of 2005, ETA told state workforce agencies to keep accepting, dating, logging, and retaining certification…
Voluntary filtering-facepiece use and facial hair
A laboratory asked whether employers must prevent bearded workers from voluntarily wearing filtering facepieces in nonhazardous air and ensure those masks fit exactly as instructed. OSHA said the…
Training choices for trade-affected workers, including workers with limited English proficiency
ETA clarified how state agencies should approve training for workers in the Trade Adjustment Assistance programs, including workers with limited English proficiency. A job paying at least 80 percent…
Locked restrooms and required keys at work
A worker asked whether an employer may lock restrooms and require employees to ask for or sign out a key. OSHA said any restriction must be reasonable and cannot cause extended delays in access. It…
When HAZWOPER covers hazardous waste generators
A chemical manufacturers association asked whether HAZWOPER emergency-response requirements cover generators when foreseeable releases pose no employee hazard or are only incidental. OSHA said the…
Hurricane Katrina work opportunity and employee retention tax credits
ETA explained temporary tax credits for employers hiring workers displaced by Hurricane Katrina through 2005 and for employers hiring eligible core-disaster-area residents for core-area jobs within…
Cafeteria plan health allotments during unpaid FMLA leave
A city and union asked whether the city must keep paying the health-insurance portion of employees' cafeteria plan allotments during unpaid FMLA leave. WHD said it must maintain the group health and…
Warning garments for off-duty police flaggers
A requester asked whether a uniformed police officer directing traffic at a construction work zone must wear a high-visibility garment. OSHA said federal requirements apply when the officer is…
Volunteer work counted in an employee group bonus plan
A utility asked whether employee volunteer hours became paid work when community service contributed to a group bonus. WHD said genuinely voluntary charitable work outside normal hours did not…
Safety requirements for a below-the-hook lifting device
A lifting-device manufacturer asked what OSHA requirements apply to its below-the-hook attachment. OSHA said it does not endorse products, but employers using the device as rigging must inspect it…
Shared controls and staffing on two-point suspension scaffolds
A requester asked whether two scaffold hoists may share one control and whether a two-point suspension scaffold needs two workers aboard. OSHA said the connected hoists and central control must be…
Handling and stacking lumber with protruding nails
A requester asked whether nails must be removed or bent down before workers carry lumber and before it is stacked. OSHA said its construction standards do not prescribe a specific nail-removal step…
Fiscal year 2006 foreign labor certification grant planning figures
ETA gave state workforce agencies their fiscal year 2006 foreign labor certification grant planning figures. It described state duties for prevailing wage determinations, H-2B applications, and H-2A…
Transfer of surplus from a terminated welfare trust
Trustees of a terminated welfare arrangement asked whether they could move surplus assets to another employee-benefit trust. EBSA said the described transfer would not violate the specified…
Multi-employer health-plan contributions during FMLA leave
WHD addressed employer contributions to a multi-employer health plan when an employee takes FMLA leave for a serious health condition and receives coverage through the plan’s disability-extension…
Limited lifeguard enforcement position at water parks
WHD amended its discretionary youth-employment enforcement position for certified 15-year-old lifeguards to include traditional pools and most water amusement park facilities. The letter excludes…
Employer-provided housing during FMLA leave
A storage business asked whether an on-site manager could be required to leave employer-provided housing during FMLA leave so another manager could live there. WHD said this could be allowed under…
Separate county board and library for overtime hours
A county asked whether an employee's full-time social-services board hours and part-time library hours had to be combined for FLSA overtime. WHD found the board and library appeared to be separate…
Police recruits' overtime period and required typing at home
A county asked whether police recruits qualified for the FLSA's partial law-enforcement overtime exemption and whether required notebook typing at home was paid work. WHD said the county could use…
Travel to wash before a delivery-route meal break
A delivery workers' union asked whether travel to a wash-up location before lunch, or a lunch briefly interrupted by washing, had to be paid under the FLSA. WHD said the described travel and bona…
Asbestos awareness training for custodians and building managers
A military installation asked why custodians with no planned contact with friable asbestos need awareness training. OSHA said housekeeping employees working where asbestos-containing or presumed…
Overloaded asbestos air samples and exposure averages
A state labor official asked how to calculate an eight-hour asbestos exposure average when a sample is overloaded with dust. OSHA said an unusable sample must not be treated as zero exposure; the…
Motor carrier overtime exemption for beverage delivery drivers
A beverage distributor asked whether drivers returning pallets and kegs destined for out-of-state suppliers qualified for the motor carrier overtime exemption. WHD said drivers who regularly carried…
Code compliance officer volunteering as reserve police officer
A city asked whether a paid code compliance officer could volunteer as a reserve police officer in the same public safety department. WHD said yes because the described civilian code work and police…
Credit card processing deductions from restaurant tips
A restaurant asked whether it could use an average percentage to deduct credit card tip conversion costs from servers' tips. WHD said an average rate could be used if aggregate deductions did not…
Federal remuneration schedule for 2006 ex-servicemember unemployment claims
ETA gave state workforce agencies a revised federal military pay schedule for determining wages in unemployment claims by former service members. States were to apply it to first claims filed…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance weekly amounts, January–March 2006
ETA sent state workforce agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared January 1 through March 31, 2006. The table uses state average…
Safety latches on sling and crane hooks
A sling manufacturer asked whether OSHA requires latches on sling hooks. OSHA said the answer depends on the activity: the general industry sling rule requires secure attachment without expressly…
Meaning of excavation operations in construction rules
A builder asked whether “excavation operations” in OSHA’s underground-installation and adjacent-structure rules includes activities beyond excavation itself. OSHA said the phrase means the act or…
Guarding smooth round rotating shafts
An employer asked whether smooth, round rotating shafts need guarding despite their shape and low speed. OSHA said the power-transmission rule does not exempt shafts by shape, diameter, or speed.…
One-time worker profiling model evaluation survey
ETA asked state unemployment agencies to submit claimant data and a survey about their Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services models. It supplied data specifications and a survey so researchers…
IRA investment through an LLC leasing to a related company
An IRA owner proposed investing through an LLC that would lease property to a company related to the owner. EBSA said the planned lease was a prohibited transaction between the IRA and a…
Tennessee college consortium health plan under ERISA
A Tennessee college consortium asked if its health plan could be a single ERISA employee welfare plan. EBSA said member employers could form a bona fide employer group and the plan could qualify at…
Wisconsin college consortium health plan under ERISA
A Wisconsin college consortium asked if its health plan could be a single ERISA employee welfare plan. EBSA said the employers could form a bona fide group at least in form, and the plan could…
2005 cost of living increases in federal pensions
ETA told state unemployment agencies about cost of living increases in Social Security annuities and federal civilian pensions that took effect in December 2005. Its attachment gives prorated…
Concrete strength and anchor-bolt notices before steel erection
A steel erector asked whether a concrete inspection report and an advance request to relocate anchor bolts satisfy OSHA’s written notice rules. OSHA said a report showing test results above 75…
Program Year 2005 ACSI customer satisfaction score weights
ETA told state workforce agencies how to calculate Program Year 2005 customer satisfaction scores under the Workforce Investment Act. The letter explains how to convert survey answers to a 0 to 100…
Transit pension plan retaining governmental status
A Utah transit pension plan asked whether allowing two employees on union leave to remain covered would affect its governmental-plan exemption. EBSA said the plan was a governmental plan on the…
Training for fuel-actuated fastening tools
A tool manufacturer asked whether model-specific powder-actuated tool training also applies to fuel-actuated fastening tools. OSHA said that specific requirement does not apply to fuel-actuated…
School paraeducator volunteering in the classroom
A school district's paid paraeducator also helped teachers without pay and volunteered at sports events and the high-school front office. WHD said the classroom help was the same type of service as…
Administrative and professional exemptions for law firm paralegals
A law firm asked whether six paralegals qualified for administrative or learned professional exemptions. WHD said the described paralegal duties did not meet the administrative discretion test, and…
Distance learning approval under Trade Adjustment Assistance
ETA told state workforce agencies that Trade Adjustment Assistance could pay for distance learning as classroom training when the resulting degree or certificate was equivalent to the on-campus…
Archived interpretation of the PSM retail facility exemption
A company asked how to count income under the process safety management retail facility exemption. The 2005 letter measured direct sales to end users of the covered hazardous chemical, excluding…
Freehand body piercing and bloodborne pathogen controls
Body piercing educators asked whether a freehand technique without forceps or a receiving tool is safe for the practitioner. OSHA said performing it without available engineering or work practice…
Rollover advice by a person outside an ERISA plan
A requester asked whether an outside adviser recommending a plan distribution and IRA investment becomes an ERISA plan fiduciary. EBSA said a person who is not otherwise a plan fiduciary does not…
Divisions within an insurer pooled separate account
An insurer asked whether separate investment divisions within a pooled insurance account each counted as a separate account under ERISA. EBSA said they did, because each division’s gains and losses…
Use of state unemployment administration grants
ETA said unemployment administration grant funds awarded to one state must support administration of that state's unemployment law. It ended the practice of moving those funds to Maryland for…
Confined-space reclassification and possible flammable atmospheres
A safety council asked whether low or potentially erroneous flammable-gas readings prevent reclassifying a fan enclosure as a non-permit confined space. OSHA said erroneous readings must be verified…
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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.