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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Third-party home-care companionship exemption
WHD instructed staff in 2005 to apply the companionship-services exemption to qualifying workers employed by third-party agencies outside the Second Circuit. Later domestic-service rules and WHD’s…
Asbestos medical records and chest X-ray readers
An occupational physician asked who may read chest X-rays under the asbestos standard and where the interpretation form must be kept. OSHA said the physician need not hold a copy if the form is…
Firefighter education incentive in the overtime regular rate
A Kentucky firefighter program asked whether a $3,000 annual salary supplement earned by meeting education and training requirements should count toward overtime. WHD said yes: the payment was…
Fall protection on a guardrail-equipped scissor lift
A requester asked whether workers on a stationary scissor lift must tie off when its guarded platform extends beyond the wheelbase. OSHA said a properly designed and maintained guardrail system can…
Safety instrumented systems under process safety management
A standards group asked whether adopting its updated safety instrumented systems standard ensures compliance with OSHA process safety management rules. OSHA said the standard can be a recognized…
2005 directory for detailed UCFE and UCX benefit data
ETA gave state workforce agencies an updated directory of federal civilian and military agencies that had requested detailed unemployment benefit payment data. State agencies were to send the data…
2005 Form 1099-G reporting for ATAA payments
ETA told state unemployment agencies how to report alternative trade adjustment assistance payments on the revised 2005 IRS Form 1099-G. Box 5 was designated for these payments, generally when they…
Temporary above-ground high-voltage utility cable
An electrical worker asked whether a damaged underground utility cable may be temporarily laid above ground for weeks or months. OSHA said the cited power transmission standards neither expressly…
Rolling FMLA leave period and hours-of-service eligibility
An employer asked how to count intermittent leave under a rolling 12-month period and whether its attendance policy could cover absences after leave was exhausted. WHD said leave used on a date…
Hurricane extensions for permanent labor certification applications
ETA instructed its labor certification processing centers to hold mail for employers or attorneys in hurricane areas with disrupted delivery and to accept updated mailing addresses without changing…
Retail commission exemption at health and athletic clubs
A health club association asked whether instructors and membership sales staff qualified for the retail commission overtime exemption. WHD said qualifying clubs could be retail service…
Houseparent overtime exemption and unmarried childcare staff
A children's home asked whether unmarried childcare staff could use the FLSA houseparent overtime exemption. WHD said the cited provision applied to qualifying married couples, not unmarried staff,…
Off-duty city firefighters working for a separate rescue crew
A city fire department asked whether firefighters could work off duty as EMTs for a separate nonprofit rescue crew without adding those hours to city overtime. WHD said the special-duty rule applied…
Smooth-surfaced stair rails and slip-on fittings
A fittings maker asked whether slip-on fittings comply with the stair-rail smooth-surface rule. OSHA said fittings are permissible if they do not create projections or irregularities that could…
Nominal coaching stipends for public school volunteers
A school district asked whether nonexempt staff could volunteer as coaches or club advisors and receive a stipend. WHD said the fee would be presumed nominal if it did not exceed 20 percent of what…
Hepatitis B vaccine boosters for exposed workers
A worker asked whether an employer must provide another hepatitis B vaccine series when antibody tests show no detectable titer. OSHA said routine boosters were not then recommended by the U.S.…
Unemployment insurance experience rating index for 2004
ETA sent state workforce agencies the 2004 unemployment insurance experience rating index, its historical series and the figures used to calculate it. The index estimates the share of benefits…
Unattended running pickup trucks at construction sites
An employer asked whether an unattended light-duty pickup truck may be left running at an off-highway construction site. OSHA said the cited motor-vehicle rule does not specifically prohibit it, but…
Updated ANSI standards for vehicle-mounted aerial lifts
A fleet-management firm asked whether vehicle-mounted aerial lifts built to newer ANSI standards also must satisfy the 1969 version incorporated in OSHA’s construction rule. OSHA said specified…
Professional exemption for social workers and caseworkers
A nonprofit social service agency asked whether its social workers and caseworkers qualified for FLSA exemptions. WHD said social workers with relevant master's degrees could generally meet the…
Voluntary shift substitutions by public hospital therapists
A state university hospital asked whether respiratory therapists could voluntarily swap shifts to work longer blocks without creating hospital overtime liability for substituted hours. WHD said the…
Exemptions for promotional staff at a summer sports camp
A sports marketing agency asked whether its temporary promotional managers and team leaders at another company's summer camp were exempt from wage and overtime rules. WHD said the agency's employees…
Stay bonuses and overtime regular rate
An employer asked how to calculate overtime after nonexempt employees earned a stay bonus that could be paid immediately, later with interest, or in installments. WHD said the nondiscretionary bonus…
Notice and duration of public-employee comp-time agreements
A county asked how to notify employees that it would give compensatory time instead of cash overtime and how long the agreement could last. WHD said personnel rules and orientation before work could…
Extension of Form ETA 581 for unemployment tax reporting
ETA told state unemployment agencies that OMB had extended approval of Form ETA 581, the quarterly report on unemployment tax operations, through October 31, 2008. The letter explained how ETA used…
First aid and CPR training in general industry
An employer asked whether OSHA’s general first-aid rule requires only basic first aid and whether all workplaces need CPR-trained staff. OSHA said employers should tailor first aid to workplace…
Exempt salary deductions for weather-related absences
Healthcare employers asked whether they could dock an exempt employee's salary after the employee missed a full workday because of bad weather while the workplace remained open. WHD said such a…
Using a light switch for electrical lockout
A laboratory asked whether a light switch may be locked out while replacing fluorescent-light ballasts. OSHA said it can serve as a disconnecting means if it meets electrical-code requirements, but…
Administrative exemption for temporary staffing managers
A staffing agency asked whether managers who negotiated placements, hired temporary workers, and advised clients qualified for executive or administrative exemptions. WHD said the described managers…
Retail commission exemption for carpet and furniture cleaning
A carpet and upholstery cleaning business asked whether its proposed commission plan could qualify for the retail service overtime exemption. WHD said such cleaning establishments could count as…
Administrative exemption for an aviation museum curator
A museum asked whether its curator qualified for an FLSA exemption. WHD said the described exhibit, collection, education, fundraising, and program duties met the administrative duties test. Its…
Academic exemption for college advisors and intervention specialists
A community college asked whether academic advisors and intervention specialists qualified for the academic administrative exemption. WHD said their main work advising students on courses, degree…
Exempt staff leave and salary during bad weather
An employer asked how bad-weather closures and employee absences affect exempt workers' salary and leave balances. WHD said an employer could debit available vacation if it still paid the guaranteed…
Asbestos medical opinions and respirator fit-test records
A worker asked what medical and respirator records an asbestos employer must provide after employment ends. OSHA said the employer must give the employee the physician’s written opinion within 30…
Program Year 2005 reemployment services grant procedures
ETA told state workforce agencies how to obtain and spend $34.3 million in Program Year 2005 grants for reemployment services to unemployment insurance claimants. The letter required an application…
National Emergency Grant assistance for people affected by Hurricane Katrina
ETA explained how states and other eligible grantees could use National Emergency Grant funds for people affected by Hurricane Katrina. The letter covered disaster relief and public sector jobs,…
Executive exemption for senior police and fire officers
A city asked whether police lieutenants, police captains, and fire battalion chiefs qualified for the executive exemption. WHD said the described roles did because their main duties were management,…
Minimum DUA weekly amounts for October–December 2005
ETA sent state workforce agencies a table of minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October through December 2005. It calculated the amounts from…
Substitute teachers and the professional exemption
A school district asked whether substitute teachers without teaching certificates or bachelor’s degrees could qualify for the professional exemption. WHD said the exemption depends on whether their…
Professional exemption for beauty school instructors
A nonprofit college asked whether its beauty school instructors qualified for the teacher or creative professional exemption. WHD found no evidence that the beauty school was an educational…
Overpayment detection and appeals performance measures
ETA set a 50 percent minimum level for states' detection of recoverable unemployment benefit overpayments, measured over three years. It clarified that pending appeals measures cover single-claimant…
Exemptions for rural water district employees
A rural water district asked whether its bookkeeper, maintenance supervisor, and maintenance worker were exempt from overtime. WHD said none qualified under the executive, administrative, or…
Reporting reemployment of unemployment benefit recipients
ETA instructed state workforce agencies to report how many unemployment benefit recipients found work in the quarter after their first payment. The letter established the ETA 9047 report, explained…
Short-call premiums and the overtime regular rate
An employer asked how to treat double-time pay for employees occasionally called in on short notice. WHD said the extra premium above pay for the hours worked could be excluded from the regular rate…
Professional exemption for medical coders
An employer asked whether at-home medical coders qualified for the FLSA learned professional exemption. WHD said the described coding work did not require advanced knowledge customarily acquired…
Allocation of costs of collecting non-UC state taxes
ETA explains how states must allocate the cost of assessing and collecting taxes gathered alongside unemployment compensation taxes. Title III UC grants may pay costs only to the extent the UC…
Archived review of power-plant group tagout procedure
A regional administrator asked OSHA to review a power plant’s group tagout procedure. OSHA said operations staff must be able to identify and account for each protected worker and check each…
Salary deductions for exempt university professors
A university asked whether it could deduct pay when a professor worked less than a full day. WHD said professors who qualify for the teacher exemption are not subject to the minimum salary or…
FLSA coverage of a church and its workers
A church asked about FLSA overtime for a worker holding both a salaried culinary job and an hourly janitorial job. WHD said the described nonprofit religious work did not create enterprise coverage…
Column access and initial beam connections in steel erection
A union asked whether connectors climbing columns need ladders and how a suspended beam must be attached before a worker crosses it. OSHA said the limited movement of one or two connectors is not…
Employee volunteering at a nonprofit university race
A nonprofit university asked whether employees helping at its annual race had to be paid for that time. WHD said work during normal hours, or work similar to an employee’s usual duties, must be…
Small police department overtime and on-call time
A community asked whether its four-person police department, including the chief, owed FLSA overtime and how another city's on-call hours should be treated. WHD said the small law-enforcement agency…
Air ambulance flight crew and the FLSA overtime exemption
An air ambulance company asked whether its pilots, nurses and paramedics fell within the FLSA overtime exemption for employees of air carriers covered by the Railway Labor Act. WHD agreed the…
Waiver flexibility for Hurricane Katrina recovery
ETA gave states options to request Workforce Investment Act waivers and work-flex authority for areas hit by Hurricane Katrina or receiving evacuees. Attachment I lists 11 waiver subjects and…
New FMLA medical certification in a new leave year
An employer asked whether it could seek a new medical certification for the same serious health condition when an employee first took leave in a new FMLA year. WHD said yes and said second or third…
Archived stair-rail and handrail height interpretation
A requester asked whether a 42-inch stair rail could also serve as a handrail under the then-current general industry rule. OSHA described the old height limits and a de minimis enforcement approach…
Wheel chocks and alternative safeguards at postal loading docks
A postal workers union asked whether trailers with spring-loaded brakes must be chocked at Postal Service facilities. OSHA said its powered-industrial-truck rules apply there, but it would treat…
Hepatitis C exposure in wastewater work
A prison worker asked about hepatitis C risks and protective equipment at a wastewater facility. OSHA said diluted raw sewage is not generally treated as bloodborne-pathogen exposure, although…
County fire department paramedics and the FLSA partial overtime exemption
A county asked whether EMTs and paramedics in a planned fire department could use the FLSA partial overtime exemption for fire protection employees. WHD said the first proposed arrangement qualified…
Volunteer reserve deputies hired for an annual fair
A county asked whether volunteer reserve deputies could be hired for one week of paid security work at an annual fair and then return to volunteer status. WHD said that could be permissible because…
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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.