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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Hawaii tapers market fund outside ERISA coverage
A Hawaii tapers market recovery trust asked whether it was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said the fund, as described and operated, did not provide covered benefits to participants or beneficiaries and…
Outside doormats and trip hazards
A requester asked whether an outdoor doormat must be glued down, including at its edges. OSHA said no standard specifically prescribes doormat installation. Securing edges may help avoid trips and…
Archived roofing slide-guard interpretation
A regional office asked whether workers could cover an entire roof with tar paper before installing slide guards under a then-current residential roofing directive. OSHA said no: tar paper counted…
Program year 2005 Indian and Native American program allotments and performance levels
ETA gave Indian and Native American workforce grantees their program year 2005 Comprehensive Services and Supplemental Youth Services allotments, explained when two-year plans needed modification,…
Reimbursement of required police training costs
A city asked whether a departing officer or the next law enforcement agency could be required to reimburse wages paid during required training. WHD said an officer’s repayment could not reduce pay…
Washington family-care leave and ERISA preemption
An airline asked whether ERISA barred Washington’s rule allowing employees to use paid leave to care for family members under a sick-leave plan that EBSA assumed, without deciding, was covered by…
Overnight shifts crossing workweek boundaries
A city asked whether it could count an entire overnight shift in the workweek when the shift began, even though some hours fell in the next week. WHD allowed advance payment for those later hours…
Limited lifeguard enforcement position at swimming pools
WHD said it would exercise discretion and not assert a youth-employment violation for certified 15-year-old lifeguards at traditional swimming pools under specified conditions, while enforcing other…
National Emergency Grant funding for 2005 defense base closure planning
ETA made National Emergency Grant funds available for states affected by proposed 2005 military base closures or realignments. It described Phase I planning grants, later Phase II worker services,…
Revised 2004 WIA funds and final 2005 Wagner-Peyser planning allotments
ETA explained how states had to apply fiscal year 2005 funding reductions to Workforce Investment Act adult and dislocated worker programs subject to minimum local-area shares and maximum statewide…
Methods for removing asbestos-containing floor mastic
A consultant asked which methods may remove asbestos-containing floor mastic. OSHA said sanding flooring or backing was prohibited and residual adhesive generally required wet scraping. It described…
Fiscal 2005 trade adjustment assistance performance goals
ETA set fiscal 2005 national performance goals for trade adjustment assistance: 70 percent reemployment after exit, 89 percent retention, and average earnings of at least 80 percent of prior…
Medical verification for paid sick leave and hours worked
A state employer asked whether employees must be paid for travel and appointments to document illness under its paid sick leave policy. WHD said that time was not FLSA hours worked on the stated…
Member health benefits as a MEWA outside one ERISA plan
A membership organization asked whether its proposed health benefits program would be a single ERISA plan or subject to state insurance rules. EBSA could not find that the organization was an…
Volunteer coverage and forklift training across warehouses
A disaster-response organization asked whether unpaid volunteers are covered by federal OSHA and whether forklift operators need new training at another warehouse. OSHA said uncompensated volunteers…
Applications for WIA Section 503 incentive grants, PY 2003
ETA updated how eligible states could apply for incentive grants based on Program Year 2003 workforce and education performance. It required approvals, an activity plan, and budget information, with…
Participant-directed trade execution and fiduciary status
A service provider asked whether executing mutual-fund and insurance-product trades directed by retirement-plan participants made it a fiduciary or prohibited its compensation. EBSA said trade…
IRA advisory fees and management-fee offsets
A bank asked whether it and affiliates could receive advisory and other fees from investments in an IRA management program. EBSA said the described fees would not violate the cited self-dealing…
In-kind exchanges into bank collective investment funds
A trust company asked whether its collective funds could transfer securities in kind to bond trusts in exchange for units. EBSA said the statutory exemption can cover the described in-kind exchanges…
Allocation of insurer litigation proceeds to welfare plans
An insurer asked how ERISA treats a litigation payment distributed to employee-benefit policyholders. EBSA said ownership documents and who paid premiums determine the plan share. An employer may…
Unattended construction equipment and powder-actuated tools
A construction consultant asked when running equipment and loaded powder-actuated tools count as unattended, and whether nearby rebar needs guarding. OSHA described lowered attachments, neutral…
Connecting two fall-arrest lanyards with locking snaphooks
A contractor asked whether two lanyards may be connected with locking snaphooks when free fall stays within six feet. OSHA said the hooks must be designed by the manufacturer for that connection,…
Documentation of an energy-control program
A requester asked which parts of a lockout/tagout energy-control program must be written. OSHA said the standard does not require one written program document, but it requires procedures and…
Georgia state health plan covering health-center employees
Georgia asked whether its state health plan would retain governmental-plan status after adding 880 employees of federally qualified health centers. Assuming the existing plan was governmental and…
Royalties on products created with federal grant funds
ETA told state workforce and unemployment agencies that federal grant money generally could not pay royalties to use a product developed with DOL grant funds when the Department retained a free use…
Unemployment insurance data validation software and policy guidance
ETA set out how state unemployment insurance agencies were to validate the figures they reported to the federal government. It introduced new software and a three-year validation cycle, with annual…
Intrastate store deliveries and the motor carrier overtime exemption
A retailer asked whether drivers carrying goods from an in-state warehouse to in-state stores qualified for the FLSA motor carrier overtime exemption. WHD said the described shipments retained an…
Tax credit certification deadlines after 2004 disasters
ETA told state workforce agencies how IRS disaster filing extensions applied to employers' 2004 Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work tax credit certification requests. The letter lists affected…
Lockout during hydraulic press die setting
An insurer asked whether hydraulic press die setters could rely on two-hand inch controls throughout a die change. OSHA said temporary re-energization is allowed for necessary testing or…
Identifying information on unemployment insurance documents
ETA told state unemployment agencies to protect claimants’ Social Security numbers while giving former employers enough information to identify a claimant and participate in benefit decisions and…
2005 fringe benefit limits for senior employment participants
ETA directed Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees to stop carrying optional participant fringe benefits from one program year to the next. Benefits funded by the program were to…
Common measures policy for workforce programs
ETA directed state workforce agencies and grantees to use common performance measures in Department of Labor-funded employment and training programs. It defined participation and exit, three adult…
Negotiating WIA performance goals for program years 2005 and 2006
ETA told state workforce agencies how to negotiate performance goals for program years 2005 and 2006 under the Workforce Investment Act. It set deadlines, identified the adult and youth measures,…
2005 senior employment state plan requirements
ETA told Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees what to update in their 2005 state plans, including public input, equitable placement of positions and agreements with local workforce…
Farmworker program participant eligibility
ETA gave National Farmworker Jobs Program and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Youth Program grantees eligibility definitions and procedures for checking applicants' work history, family income,…
Public-sector salary docking and timesheets
A Colorado public agency asked whether timesheets and partial-day salary deductions affected exempt employees, including its in-house attorneys. WHD said required time tracking alone did not defeat…
Joint employment across related health care facilities
A health care system asked whether a nurse’s hours at two related facilities had to be combined for overtime. WHD said the facilities’ shared control and operational ties established joint…
Claims procedures for accidental death and dismemberment benefits
An insurance brokerage and benefits consulting firm asked whether claims for accidental death and dismemberment benefits had to follow ERISA’s special disability-claim procedures. EBSA said those…
Fall protection and access during scaffold and shoring erection
A shoring company asked whether tied-off scaffold workers also need guardrails and whether workers may climb shoring frames. OSHA said guardrails are not additionally required in the stated…
Replacing damaged welding leads
A construction company asked whether damaged welding leads could be repaired for general-industry use. OSHA said its general-industry welding rule requires replacement of cables with damaged…
Steel connectors and loads on metal buildings
A requester asked about hand-installing purlins and whether an erector walking a concrete wall between beam connections remains a connector. OSHA said the hand-installation method is not expressly…
Fall protection on a water-tower scaffold
A water-tower contractor asked how to protect workers on an interior scaffold more than ten feet above lower levels. OSHA said the applicable scaffold rule allows guardrails or fall arrest, but…
Disclosure of low-level sensitizers on chemical safety sheets
A consulting firm asked whether cosmetic ingredients below 0.1 percent had to be listed on material safety data sheets. OSHA said a component that poses a scientifically supported health risk to…
Fall protection while working from telecommunications ladders
A ladder manufacturer asked about a withdrawn 1988 letter on tying off above four feet. OSHA said review of the rulemaking history showed that the telecommunications rule did not require fall…
Updated unemployment insurance IT security self-assessment guidance
ETA gave state unemployment agencies updated NIST security publications and a new version of the ASSET tool for reviewing their unemployment insurance computer systems. It encouraged agencies to…
DHS identifying codes and addresses for federal unemployment programs
ETA gave state workforce agencies separate federal identifying codes and mailing addresses for Department of Homeland Security components in the federal employee and ex-service member unemployment…
2005 Work Opportunity tax credit grant allotments
ETA gave state workforce agencies their 2005 allotments and grant plan instructions for administering the Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work tax credits. The letter specified funding factors,…
ANSI window-cleaning standards and federal-agency citations
A federal agency asked whether OSHA would adopt an ANSI window-cleaning standard and cite it directly. OSHA said it could use the standard as evidence of hazard recognition or feasible abatement,…
Disposable razor containment and disposal in nursing homes
A health-care organization asked how nursing homes should collect and dispose of used disposable razors. OSHA said facilities must follow applicable waste rules and use closable, puncture-resistant,…
OMB extension for Benefits Timeliness and Quality data collection
ETA told state unemployment agencies that OMB had extended approval for monthly and quarterly Benefits Timeliness and Quality reporting through November 2007. The reports measured how promptly and…
OMB extension for Benefits Accuracy Measurement data collection
ETA told state unemployment agencies that OMB had extended approval for Benefits Accuracy Measurement data collection through June 2007. States used weekly samples of paid and denied claims to…
2005 workforce and employment service allotments
ETA gave states their 2005 funding allotments for WIA youth, adult and dislocated worker programs, preliminary public employment service allotments, reemployment services, workforce information…
Plan trustee conflict in investment-adviser fund
A plan asked about investing in a mutual fund whose adviser was significantly owned and managed by one of its trustees. EBSA said that trustee would violate the cited self-dealing rules by using…
State Medicaid reimbursement claims against ERISA plans
A requester asked whether a state could recover Medicaid drug payments from an ERISA group health plan even when its usual claim procedures were not followed. EBSA said a state recovery action is…
Jointly owned benefit-plan administration corporation
Related pension and welfare funds asked about forming a jointly owned corporation to provide administration services to the funds and other plans. EBSA explained how plan-asset rules and…
Military service members and spouses in dislocated worker programs
ETA said an honorably discharged service member could satisfy the termination part of the Workforce Investment Act dislocated worker definition, but still had to meet the other eligibility criteria.…
GFCI duties for electrical subcontractors on construction sites
An electrical contractor asked whether it had to install GFCIs for other subcontractors using temporary construction power. OSHA said each employer with exposed employees must use either GFCI…
2005 poverty guidelines for senior employment eligibility
ETA instructed Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees to use the 2005 federal poverty guidelines and the 125 percent amounts to assess applicants' income eligibility. The attached…
Tax credit certification for family assistance recipients
ETA told state workforce agencies that a person in a family receiving assistance for the required period could qualify for certain employment tax credit target groups even if that person was…
One public employee with exempt and nonexempt duties
A public employer asked how to pay an office assistant who also worked as an exempt coordinator. WHD said the employee’s primary duty across the job as a whole controlled exemption; if the office…
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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.