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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Revising baseline hearing tests after a threshold shift
A hearing-conservation group asked whether employers may revise both ears’ baseline audiograms when only one ear has a qualifying threshold shift. OSHA said only the affected ear’s baseline may be…
FY 2006 TAA base allocations and reserve funding requests
ETA set FY 2006 Trade Adjustment Assistance training base allocations and reserve funding procedures. It distributed $165 million by formula, held $55 million in reserve, required SF-424 and…
Biohazard labels on shipped human specimens
A laboratory asked whether a transport marking exempts shipped human samples from OSHA biohazard labels. OSHA said an accepted transportation label can replace the outer OSHA label where applicable,…
Meaning of asbestos quantity in building-owner notices
An abatement company asked what “quantity” means when building owners notify contractors about asbestos-containing material. OSHA said it refers to the amount at the worksite, often measured in…
FLSA coverage of a nonprofit home for dependent children
A nonprofit children’s home asked whether it was an enterprise covered by the FLSA. WHD agreed that its stated activities were not a business purpose and that a local school district, rather than…
Mandatory gratuities, tip credit, and chauffeur pay
A chauffeur company asked whether a mandatory 15% gratuity could count as a tip toward minimum wage and overtime obligations. WHD said compulsory charges are not tips even if passed to employees, so…
Publication of 2004 UI benefit accuracy data
ETA notified state workforce agencies that it had published 2004 Benefit Accuracy Measurement data on unemployment insurance payments and claim denials. Its attached executive summary compares paid…
Reissued preliminary 2005 UI employer contribution rates
ETA reissued its preliminary 2005 state unemployment insurance employer contribution rate tables after finding a typographical error in the original attachment. The tables compare estimated 2005…
Franchisee health plan as a MEWA and ERISA plan
A franchise distribution center and its franchisees asked whether their proposed health program was an ERISA welfare plan and fully insured MEWA. EBSA said it was a MEWA and the employers could form…
Administrative exemption for regional disability advocates
An organization asked whether regional advocates serving people with disabilities were exempt administrative employees. WHD said their main work was ongoing client case management, not managing the…
FMLA leave when foster placement becomes adoption
An employer asked whether a later adoption of a child already placed with the worker for foster care started a second FMLA placement-leave period. WHD said only the initial placement triggered leave…
Forestry overtime exemption and mixed timber and hunting work
A timberland operator asked whether its five workers qualified for the FLSA forestry overtime exemption. WHD said the workforce met the exemption’s eight-employee limit, but the record did not show…
Volunteer peer reviewers at a religious nonprofit
A religious nonprofit asked whether experts who made occasional unpaid accreditation visits were employees under the FLSA. WHD concluded that they were volunteers because they served without…
Nonexempt college employees who also teach
A college asked whether full-time nonexempt staff became exempt while teaching a part-time class. WHD said their main duty remained their regular nonexempt job, so the teacher exemption did not…
Learned professional exemption for sales engineers
An employer asked whether sales engineers who combined engineering work with sales qualified for the learned professional exemption. WHD said the described engineers did: the job required a…
Motor carrier overtime exemption for equipment installers
A company asked whether technicians who drove across state lines to install medical equipment qualified for the motor carrier overtime exemption. WHD said their transportation of tools and equipment…
Creative professional exemption for vinyl wrap installers
A graphic arts company asked whether workers installing advertising vinyl wraps qualified for the creative professional exemption. WHD said no: they applied designs made by others, and their…
Administrative exemption for insurance claims specialists
A third-party claims administrator asked whether three levels of insurance claims specialist qualified for the administrative exemption. WHD said closely supervised Claims Specialist I staff did not…
Fee-basis pay for outsourced accountants
An accounting company asked whether paying accountants a percentage of client charges met the professional exemption’s fee-basis test. WHD said repeated per-transaction payments resembled piecework,…
Court reporters, coordinators, and the personal staff exception
A county asked whether court reporters and court coordinators selected by elected judges were outside FLSA coverage as personal staff. WHD said the reporters did not meet that exception, while the…
Prior-year bonuses in current-year incentive calculations
An employer asked whether a bonus earned for one calendar year but paid the next February had to enter the following year’s bonus calculation. WHD said no under the described percentage-of-earnings…
Insurer subsidiary holdings in the plan-asset participation test
Insurers asked how to count an investment made through a subsidiary wholly owned by an insurance company’s general account. EBSA said the subsidiary can be disregarded and its interest treated as…
Precast concrete erection and overhead load protection
A steel erector asked about lifting precast concrete members over occupied offices. OSHA said the concrete and masonry rule, rather than the steel-erection rule, applies; workers who are not needed…
Interstate UI overpayment detection and recovery
ETA encouraged state workforce agencies to detect and recover unemployment insurance overpayments across state lines. It explained combined wage claim requirements, voluntary reciprocal recovery…
Payment Management System codes for Section 166 grants
ETA gave Indian and Native American Workforce Investment Act Section 166 grantees new Payment Management System subaccount codes for program year 2005: QZ for Supplemental Youth Services and RT for…
Administrative exemption for background investigators
A contractor asked whether investigators gathering information for federal security clearance reviews were exempt administrative employees. WHD said their main duty was fact finding under…
Hourly nurse practitioners and shift differentials
A hospital asked whether hourly-paid nurse practitioners affected the exemption status of salaried practitioners in the same role. WHD said each worker’s duties and pay determine exemption…
Recharge threshold for self-contained breathing-air cylinders
A grocery company asked whether its 60-minute self-contained breathing-air cylinders could fall to 75 percent pressure before recharge because they exceed the minimum cylinder capacity. OSHA said…
Workforce system support for 2005 base realignment and closure
ETA directed state and local workforce agencies to plan services for workers and communities affected by the 2005 military base realignment and closure process. It described federal, state and local…
Archived fixed-ladder side-rail gripping interpretation
A safety group asked whether angle-iron side rails on fixed ladders provide an adequate gripping surface under the then-cited rule. OSHA said the described two-inch angle iron did not appear to do…
Controls and sampling for asbestos mastic removal
A county safety specialist asked how to protect workers removing insulation attached by asbestos-containing mastic. OSHA classified the mastic removal as Class II asbestos work and described when…
UI criminal investigations memorandum of understanding
ETA sent state workforce agencies a memorandum defining how its workforce office, the Department of Labor Inspector General and states would coordinate unemployment insurance fraud investigations.…
Whether 2004 executive exemption rules changed prior standards
A requester asked whether three provisions in the 2004 federal exemption regulations changed prior standards relevant to California wage orders. WHD said the additions about budgeting and…
Reauthorization of the UI State Quality Service Plan
ETA told state workforce agencies that OMB had extended approval for data collection supporting the Unemployment Insurance State Quality Service Plan through June 2008. The plan served as both a…
Preliminary 2005 UI employer contribution rates
ETA compiled and sent preliminary estimates of 2005 unemployment insurance employer contribution rates reported by state workforce agencies. Its tables compare the estimates with actual 2003 and…
Washington premium assessments on self-funded MEWAs
Washington’s insurance commissioner asked whether state premium taxes and high-risk pool assessments on self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements conflicted with ERISA. EBSA said the…
Private express mail drivers and the motor carrier overtime exemption
Drivers delivering for a private express mail company asked whether an FLSA motor carrier overtime exemption applied to their in-state routes. WHD said the old exception for U.S. Postal Service…
Trench-box position during pipe backfilling
A pipe contractor asked whether a trench box may be raised more than two feet above the working surface to preserve pipe backfill. OSHA said workers cannot remain in the trench in that…
Washing facilities for harmful contaminants at construction sites
A union asked whether rags and waterless cleaner satisfy the construction washing-facility rule. OSHA said the rule applies to work involving specified or otherwise harmful contaminants and requires…
Revision to the data validation policy for employment and training programs for program year 2004
ETA revised program year 2004 data validation deadlines for WIA Title I-B, Wagner-Peyser, veterans employment, Trade Adjustment Assistance and national grant programs. Its attachment lists…
OMB approval of disaster unemployment assistance forms and activities report
ETA told state workforce agencies that OMB had extended approval for disaster unemployment assistance forms and the ETA 90-2 activities report through June 2008. States administer the program under…
Formaldehyde and lifting hazards in funeral homes
A funeral-home worker asked about formaldehyde exposure during embalming and heavy lifting. OSHA said its formaldehyde standard applies to embalming, with exposure limits, monitoring, controls,…
Guarding robotic laundry shuttles
A union asked whether rules, alarms, barrier chains, and several types of gates adequately guard automated laundry shuttles. OSHA said methods relying only on warnings or easy access generally would…
Religious training and employment under WIA Title I
ETA explained how 2004 DOL regulations let Workforce Investment Act Title I participants use indirect assistance, such as an Individual Training Account, for religious training when they have a…
Archived interpretation of ramp slopes in general industry
An engineering firm asked whether a one-in-four industrial ramp slope violated the then-current general industry walking-surface rules. OSHA said those rules did not set a maximum slope and…
Vendor-funded sales bonuses in the overtime regular rate
An employer asked whether vendor-funded bonuses for selling certain products counted in the regular rate used to calculate overtime. WHD said they did because the vendor announced the formula before…
Correction to electrical live-part guarding interpretation
OSHA informed an employer that it had corrected a September 26, 2002 interpretation of electrical live-part guarding. A statement applying Note 2 of Table S-1 to the live-part guarding provision was…
Why OSHA uses PCM for asbestos exposure limits
A senator asked why OSHA used phase-contrast microscopy rather than transmission electron microscopy after asbestos concerns at a federal courthouse. OSHA said its asbestos exposure limit and…
Asbestos waste containers and demolition-site controls
A school district asked about asbestos controls during demolition. OSHA said private contractors are covered even though the district itself is outside federal OSHA’s employer definition. It…
Hazard communication for EPA-exempt reclaimed sludge
A requester asked whether reclaimed sludge exempt from EPA hazardous-waste classification is also outside OSHA hazard communication and emergency-response rules. OSHA said the EPA classification…
Training for hospital emergency-response safety officials
A consultant asked what training a hospital safety official needs under HAZWOPER. OSHA said the training level depends on reasonably anticipated response duties and hazards. Community-wide response…
Governmental status of a Massachusetts public-employee fund
A Massachusetts public-employee fund asked whether covering five of its own employees would end its governmental-plan exemption. Assuming the fund was already a governmental plan, EBSA said five…
Scaffold ladder openings, guardrails, and toeboards
A requester asked whether scaffold ladder access can have open guardrail gaps and whether toeboards are needed at that passage. OSHA said exposed workers must have a compliant guardrail system or…
Fiscal Year 2006 UI State Quality Service Plan call memo
ETA gave state workforce agencies instructions for their fiscal year 2006 unemployment insurance performance plans and federal administrative funding requests. It set planning expectations,…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance weekly benefit amounts, July–September 2005
ETA sent state workforce agencies a table for calculating minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance benefits for major disasters declared from July through September 2005. The table uses each…
Reauthorization of the UI Data Validation program
ETA announced that OMB had extended approval for state unemployment insurance data validation reporting through May 2008. State agencies had to validate selected figures used in workload reports and…
OSHA coverage of amusement park workers
A requester asked about safety rules and accident investigations at amusement parks. OSHA said its general industry standards cover employees at those facilities but not visiting members of the…
Joint employment across managed health care facilities
Two sets of health care facilities used the same management company, and employees sometimes worked at more than one facility in a week. WHD concluded that the facilities were joint employers on the…
Licensing of medical reviewers in ERISA claim appeals
A requester asked whether a health plan’s medical reviewer on appeal had to be licensed in the state where treatment occurred. EBSA said its claims regulation does not impose that geographic…
Hawaii painting cooperation fund outside ERISA coverage
A Hawaii painting industry cooperation fund asked whether it was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said the fund, as described and operated, did not provide covered benefits to participants or…
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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.