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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Final-pay deduction for advanced vacation
An employer asked whether it could recoup vacation pay advanced to an employee from the final paycheck, even if that reduced pay below the FLSA minimum wage. WHD said an advance voluntarily accepted…
Grounding requirements for aerial lifts under OSHA power-line standards
An electric utility asked whether workers grounding a mechanical aerial lift needed hot sticks, rubber gloves, or both. OSHA said those measures are not required when the grounding method keeps…
Ladder safety requirements for towers over 20 feet
A tower manufacturer asked about cages, sliding fall protection devices, and rest platforms for fixed ladders on towers more than 20 feet long. OSHA applied the then-current ladder rule and…
FY 2005 TAA state allocations and reserve fund requests
ETA explained how it allocated FY 2005 Trade Adjustment Assistance training funds among states, with 75 percent distributed by formula and 25 percent kept for reserve requests. It gave states the…
Proof of illness for paid sick leave during FMLA leave
An employer asked whether it could require extra proof of illness before paying sick leave for an absence already protected by the FMLA. WHD said a uniformly applied sick-pay rule could impose its…
School employees volunteering for extracurricular activities
A requester asked whether nonexempt school employees could volunteer as coaches, club sponsors, or for other activities. WHD said a public-agency employee must offer the work freely for civic,…
Disaster unemployment assistance weekly minimums for late 2004
ETA gave state unemployment agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October 1 through December 31, 2004. The attachment lists…
Fall protection for a depression in a finished concrete floor
A construction worker asked whether guardrails were required around a 33-inch-deep depression in a much larger finished concrete floor. OSHA treated the depression as a hole because workers could…
Excavation depth must be measured where employees work
An insurance representative asked whether a trench averaging less than five feet deep could avoid OSHA’s cave-in protection requirement even where some sections were deeper. OSHA said no: protection…
Lump-sum delivery bonus and the overtime regular rate
A delivery employer proposed a weekly lump-sum payment based on delivery volume for workers who exceeded 40 hours. WHD said the payment was a nondiscretionary bonus included in the regular rate.…
Public posting of OSHA citations and settlement agreements
An attorney asked OSHA to stop posting older citations and penalties and asked whether employers could keep settlement agreements confidential. OSHA said the inspection information it posts is…
Alternatives to standard backup alarms on construction vehicles
A resident asked whether construction equipment could use a less intrusive warning method than a high-pitched backup alarm. OSHA said the cited rules allow an observer to signal safe backing, and an…
PY 2004 reemployment services allotments and Personal Reemployment Accounts demonstration
ETA gave state workforce agencies their PY 2004 reemployment service allotments and instructions for plans, services, and reporting. It also invited up to nine states to test Personal Reemployment…
Telecommunications standard at retail and office facilities
A telecommunications company asked whether OSHA’s industry-specific standard covered its retail stores, call centers, warehouses, and offices, and whether scissor-lift users at those sites needed…
Optional travel home during an out-of-town assignment
An employer asked whether it owed pay when out-of-town crew members chose to fly home during four days off, using employer-provided tickets. WHD said travel for the employee’s personal convenience…
Productivity incentives and overtime regular rate
An employer asked whether its monthly productivity incentive could be paid as the same extra dollar amount for regular and overtime hours without recalculating overtime. WHD said no: a promised…
Piece-rate excess earnings in the overtime regular rate
A security-system company proposed paying installers the greater of piece-rate earnings or a guaranteed hourly amount, treating excess piece-rate pay as a bonus. WHD said the excess was…
Pay for firefighters attending out-of-town training
A city asked whether firefighters attending out-of-town training had to receive pay for a missed 24-hour shift plus separate pay for each training day. WHD said the FLSA required pay for hours…
Union participation in an FLSA section 7(b)(2) pay plan
A union asked whether it could withdraw from an FLSA section 7(b)(2) compensation plan. WHD said such a plan depended on both parties’ agreement for its 52-week period and that it could not force…
Compensatory time for hours below 40 per week
A public employer asked whether it could give one hour of compensatory time instead of cash pay for each hour employees worked between 37.5 and 40 hours a week. WHD said those hours were outside the…
Switch plates and receptacle covers near live electrical parts
A maintenance engineer asked whether construction rules require plastic switch plates and nonconductive screws over live electrical parts. OSHA said the cited rule does not prescribe those materials…
Fall protection on a scissor lift slide-out deck
A contractor asked whether a worker stepping from a guarded scissor-lift platform onto its slide-out extension needed additional fall protection. OSHA said the worker must be protected on the…
Taking unsafe powered industrial trucks out of service
A worker asked which powered industrial truck defects require immediate repair and whether an employer may keep an unsafe truck as a backup. OSHA said any condition that adversely affects vehicle…
Nurse overtime agreements under section 7(b)
A union representing nurses asked whether certification by a Nevada labor board was enough to negotiate a special overtime agreement under FLSA section 7(b). WHD said the section specifically…
Consistent hazard information on labels and material safety data sheets
A safety-information provider asked whether two OSHA letters conflicted about chemical labels and material safety data sheets. OSHA said they addressed different parties: an employer using one sheet…
Preventing prolonged suspension in fall protection systems
A union representative asked OSHA about the danger of prolonged suspension in a fall-protection harness. OSHA pointed to its safety bulletin and recommended a plan to prevent prolonged suspension,…
School media assistant coaching and computer work
A school media and technology assistant asked whether he could volunteer as a sports coach and perform unpaid computer maintenance for his school. WHD said coaching was different from his paid job…
Autoclaving used dental instruments at mobile workers’ homes
A mobile dental service asked whether OSHA had rules for employees sterilizing used instruments at their homes. OSHA said it had no specific standard for autoclaving instruments. It pointed the…
Labor exchange reporting corrections for veterans and transitioning service members
ETA corrected state labor exchange reporting instructions after the Jobs for Veterans Act. It removed the Vietnam Era Veterans reporting category, extended the newly separated veteran definition to…
Special detail exception for separately funded officers
Public agencies asked whether separately funded traffic enforcement by officers qualified for the FLSA special-detail exception. WHD said the officers remained under their usual agency’s selection,…
Employer payment for personal protective equipment in 2004
An employer asked whether it or its workers had to pay for protective equipment required under OSHA’s general PPE provision. In this 2004 letter, OSHA said the provision required employers to…
Life jackets and rescue skiffs for construction work over shallow water
A contractor asked whether workers over water less than two feet deep needed life jackets and a rescue skiff. OSHA said water depth alone does not decide whether a drowning hazard exists; currents,…
Strength testing concrete and mortar before steel erection
A safety consultant asked whether OSHA had suspended all strength testing before steel erection or only testing of field-cured mortar. OSHA said the enforcement suspension applied only to mortar…
Residential roof-truss erection from an exterior top plate
An OSHA regional office asked whether a residential fall-protection directive permitted workers to erect roof trusses while walking on exterior wall top plates. OSHA said that directive’s…
Revised data validation deadlines and source documentation
ETA revised data validation deadlines for state workforce programs and national grantees, including when states had to check reports and participant records. Its attachment lists acceptable source…
National Emergency Grant assistance for returning National Guard and Reserve members
ETA expanded its National Emergency Grant policy so states could seek funds to help certain National Guard and Reserve members whose job training was interrupted by deployment. It also allowed…
Air carrier overtime exemption for corporate flight crews
A private company asked whether its flight attendants and dispatchers were exempt from overtime because its aircraft carried executives and others across state lines. WHD said the company was not an…
Motor carrier exemption for food sales representatives
A food manufacturer asked whether sales representatives who drove display parts and promotional materials to assigned stores qualified for the motor carrier overtime exemption. WHD said the…
Interstate overpayment recovery handbook update
ETA asked state unemployment agencies to update the interstate handbook that tells other states whom to contact and how to request help recovering overpaid benefits. States were to submit their…
Online and hands-on training under HAZWOPER
A safety trainer asked whether a self-paced online course could satisfy HAZWOPER’s 40-hour training requirement and whether field experience alone could supply hands-on practice. OSHA said computer…
Temporary panelboard ingress barriers in general industry
A manufacturer asked whether its UL-classified temporary panelboard barrier was acceptable under OSHA’s general-industry electrical rules. OSHA said the barrier was acceptable for its listed…
State unemployment tax experience transfer rules
ETA explained the 2004 federal minimum rules against shifting unemployment tax experience to obtain a lower contribution rate. States had to require experience transfers between substantially…
Forklift horn audibility and removal from service
A worker asked when a weak forklift horn must be replaced. OSHA said a horn that can no longer be heard above the workplace’s ambient noise makes the truck unsafe, so the truck must be taken out of…
Unpaid minutes and bus driver time records
A school bus driver contract required a voucher only when extra route time reached at least half an hour. WHD said the policy could violate the FLSA if it arbitrarily left worked time unrecorded or…
Fire protection and storage rules for paint spray booths
An employer asked how OSHA’s spray-booth rules apply to several painting setups with different paint quantities and frequencies. OSHA said a structure meeting the spray-booth definition needs the…
WIA annual and quarterly performance reporting schedules
ETA clarified when states had to submit Workforce Investment Act annual reports and participant records for program years 2003 and 2004. It specified which past program years to include, required…
Extended benefits work test for trade assistance health credit eligibility
ETA clarified when states should apply the extended benefits work search test while identifying Trade Adjustment Assistance recipients for the Health Coverage Tax Credit. A worker who has not…
Slotted metal panels on crane personnel platforms
A platform designer asked whether a mostly solid metal enclosure panel with one-inch by quarter-inch logo slots met OSHA’s personnel-platform rule. OSHA said the panel met the cited requirement…
Unemployment insurance performance goals for FY 2004
ETA reported how the unemployment insurance system performed against its fiscal year 2003 goals and set new targets for fiscal year 2004. It asked state workforce agencies to review their…
Insulating barriers and construction equipment near power lines
A utility asked when insulated power lines allow construction equipment to work inside the usual minimum approach distance. OSHA said factory insulation can count as a barrier only when its adequacy…
Restricted meal period for fare-counting employees
An employer asked whether fare-counting employees’ 30-minute meals were compensable because the workers had to stay in a small lunchroom and faced activity restrictions. WHD said the meal period was…
Summer horse camp and the seasonal establishment exemption
A nonprofit riding program asked whether staff at its nine-week summer horse camp qualified for the seasonal amusement or recreation establishment exemption. WHD concluded that the camp was not a…
Hearing protection for deaf workers and workers using hearing aids
An employer asked whether workers with hearing aids or a diagnosis of deafness still needed hearing protection in high-noise areas. OSHA said its occupational-noise rule has no exception for either…
Fall protection for a deaf steel-erection worker
An employer asked whether a deaf employee doing steel-erection welding could use the fall-protection methods in OSHA’s steel-erection rule. OSHA said the listed systems do not rely on verbal…
Tuberculosis respiratory protection after withdrawal of former rule
OSHA told regional administrators how healthcare employers should adjust tuberculosis respirator programs after the former tuberculosis-specific rule was withdrawn. The 2004 memorandum said the…
Forklift inspections, operator evaluations, and seat belts
An employer asked how often to inspect forklifts, whether oral tests can evaluate operators, and whether drivers must use seat belts. OSHA said trucks need examination before service at least daily…
Sleep time in residential care facilities
A residential care provider asked whether employees who permanently live in a group home must be free to leave during sleep time for those hours to be unpaid. WHD said a reasonable agreement may…
Electrical-equipment working clearances and storage
An employer asked how far stock or empty containers should be kept from electrical equipment such as ladder cable trays. OSHA pointed to the rules requiring suitable enclosures or guards for…
Respiratory protection for long-term care facilities
A health care association asked whether a long-term care facility that does not admit people with tuberculosis and transfers suspected cases must follow OSHA's respiratory protection standard. OSHA…
Preliminary estimates of 2004 employer UI contribution rates
ETA sent state workforce agencies preliminary estimates of employer unemployment-insurance contribution rates for calendar year 2004, with actual rates for 2002 and 2003. Its attachments compare…
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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.