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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Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for October–December 2001
ETA supplied state and territory average weekly unemployment benefit amounts, calculated 50 percent figures, and rounded minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. These figures applied to…
TAA and NAFTA-TAA training transportation payments
ETA clarified transportation payments for approved TAA and NAFTA-TAA training outside a worker's commuting area. The state had to consider travel costs when deciding whether training was reasonably…
Timing of PY 2001 dislocated worker fund reduction
ETA told states that it needed more time to review the data for the planned program year 2001 dislocated worker funding reduction. No effective date had been set when this change was issued, and…
Cost concerns about the 2001 steel-erection standard
A steel erector raised concerns about the cost of OSHA’s revised steel-erection rule. OSHA described the negotiated rulemaking, public comments, and its assessment of safety and costs. It also…
Asbestos standard for sheet-gasket maintenance and repair
A company asked whether repair of asbestos-containing sheet gaskets falls under construction asbestos rules when it does not ordinarily perform construction. OSHA answered yes: the nature of the…
Aerial lifts near overhead electric lines in construction
A regional OSHA office asked what rule applies when workers using an aerial lift near power lines are not doing electrical work. OSHA said §1926.416(a)(1) applies when direct or indirect contact is…
Meaning of utility owner in excavation notice rule
A requester asked whether the excavation rule’s reference to utility “owners” means the owner of the land being dug. OSHA said it means the owner of the underground utility installation, including…
Crane manufacturer limits when hoisting construction workers
A contractor asked whether meeting personnel-hoisting requirements allowed use of a crane whose manufacturer said it was not made to lift workers. OSHA said no: both the manufacturer’s…
Continuation of TAA and NAFTA-TAA programs
ETA addressed a possible September 2001 sunset of the Trade Adjustment Assistance and NAFTA transitional programs. It instructed states to continue operating them through September 2002 if the…
Steel-erection fall protection, shear connectors, and controlling contractors
A construction trade association challenged the revised steel-erection rule on fall protection, shear connectors, multi-employer duties, and several technical provisions. OSHA explained how the…
Recirculated air in occupied spray-booth spaces
A manufacturer asked whether recirculating air in an occupied spray booth could be treated as a de minimis violation. OSHA said full compliance with the cited NFPA 33-2000 recirculation provisions…
Fall protection and confined-space questions for HVAC work
An HVAC contractor asked which fall rules cover construction and maintenance work and when a crawl space is confined. OSHA said the work activity and hazards determine the applicable rules, and…
Electronic UCFE and UCX wage and separation information exchange
ETA gave state unemployment agencies new procedures for obtaining federal civilian and former service member wage and separation information electronically, including claims control records, forms,…
Polyethylene tanks for PCB-contaminated mineral oil
A lawyer asked about a polyethylene tank for PCB-contaminated mineral oil. OSHA said a Class IIIB liquid, if correctly classified, was outside the cited flammable-liquid rule. For liquids the rule…
Federal OSHA coverage of a Louisiana hospital service district
A lawyer asked whether a Louisiana hospital service district is an employer under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act. OSHA applied its tests for state political subdivisions to the…
Using NFPA 30 in place of an OSHA flammable-liquid provision
A coatings company asked whether it could follow an NFPA 30-2000 liquid-storage provision instead of the cited OSHA rule. OSHA said it may treat a deviation as de minimis when the applicable newer…
Revised PY 2001 youth activity allotments
ETA supplied the revised state allotment table missing from its earlier TEGL 3-01. The table shows how an additional $25 million for program year 2001 youth activities affected states and outlying…
Selling standard syringes after OSHA’s needlestick rule revision
A medical supplier asked whether it may sell conventional syringes and who is responsible for the needlestick rule. OSHA said conventional syringes can be used when no occupational blood exposure is…
Safety syringes for radiopharmaceutical procedures
A nuclear-medicine group asked how the bloodborne-pathogens rule applies to radiopharmaceutical injections. OSHA said employers should consider radiation hazards and seek input from workers familiar…
PY 2001 dislocated worker reductions and youth funds
ETA explained how it would allocate a $110 million reduction in states' program year 2001 dislocated worker funds, using their unspent 1999 and 2000 allotments. It also described an additional $25…
Residential truss framing under former fall-protection directive
A framing contractor asked whether a former residential fall-protection directive covered truss work on structures built with residential methods. OSHA said the directive’s definition also…
Spartanburg water and sewer employee benefit plans
South Carolina water and sewer entities asked whether their disability and health plans were excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA found the entities were governmental agencies or subdivisions under…
Participation in Money Smart financial education effort
ETA described a free, ten-module financial education program developed with the FDIC for adults with limited banking experience. States and local One-Stop centers could choose whether to offer it…
Containers for combustible aluminum paste
A consultant asked whether plastic drums and bags, fiber drums, and foil pouches could store Class II aluminum paste. OSHA said certain plastic containers could receive de minimis treatment under a…
PY 2001 reemployment services grant planning
ETA told state employment agencies how to plan and report use of the new $35 million in program year 2001 reemployment service funds for unemployment insurance claimants. It recommends early…
Hospital nurses’ volunteer and training activities
A hospital asked whether nurses’ community service, committee meetings, and conferences could be treated as unpaid volunteer or training time. WHD said activities controlled by the hospital,…
Asbestos exposure and citations when respirators are used
An asbestos-abatement consultant asked whether workers with respirators were overexposed when air monitoring exceeded the asbestos limit. OSHA said exposure is measured without credit for…
Questions and answers on denied-claim accuracy measurement
ETA sent state unemployment agencies 57 answers on implementing denied-claim accuracy measurement under the Benefit Accuracy Measurement program. The answers address sampling schedules, which…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for July–September 2001
ETA supplied state and territory average weekly unemployment benefit amounts, calculated 50 percent figures, and rounded minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits. These figures applied to…
FY 2002 funding requests for ICON programmers
ETA offered states a fiscal year 2002 supplemental budget request route for salary and benefits of up to one Interstate Connection programmer staff year. States were to exclude related overhead…
Reporting federal income tax withholding on ETA Form 2112
ETA told state unemployment agencies to correct any ETA 2112 reports that omitted benefit amounts transferred to the IRS for federal income tax withholding. Agencies using the FEDTAX system were to…
Scaffold clearance from insulated power lines below 300 volts
A laboratory employee asked whether an OSHA magazine’s two-foot power-line clearance for a scaffold was correct. OSHA said the scaffold standard requires three feet from insulated lines under 300…
2001 Federal Schedule of Remuneration for UCX claims
ETA sent state unemployment agencies a revised federal military pay schedule for calculating Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers eligibility. States were to use it for first claims filed…
Encapsulated bridge shear connectors used as fall anchors
An OSHA technical office asked about a bridge contractor’s proposed shear-stud anchor system. OSHA said the cited shear-connector provision did not apply if all studs were encapsulated before…
Former residential fall-protection height limits for truss work
An OSHA regional office asked which height limit applied to truss installation on a three-story apartment building under former directive STD 3-0.1A. OSHA distinguished the directive’s Group I truss…
2001 changes to UC tax withholding and education benefits
ETA told states that a 2001 federal law reduced optional federal income tax withholding from unemployment benefits from 15 to 10 percent for payments made on or after August 7, 2001. The same law…
Three union employees in a California transit pension
A California transit pension plan asked whether three employees of the union representing public transit workers could participate. EBSA said those private-sector participants were de minimis among…
Use of Form MA 8-7 after approval extension
ETA informed state unemployment agencies that OMB extended approval for Form MA 8-7, used to send state unemployment legislation and other materials to the Department. The letter directed states to…
Delayed start of denied and interstate claim accuracy sampling
ETA postponed the start of denied-claims accuracy sampling and paid interstate liable claim sampling from June 3 to July 29, 2001, after a software problem delayed implementation. It reduced the…
FY 2002 Unemployment Insurance State Quality Service Plans
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies on preparing their fiscal year 2002 State Quality Service Plans. The letter set federal priorities, planning and funding periods, reporting options, and…
Youth program audit and outcome data validation
ETA informed states that a federal audit found serious gaps in reported positive outcomes and supporting records for an earlier out-of-school youth program. It asked states to notify local grantees,…
Labeling and shipping blood-contaminated medical equipment
A lawyer asked how manufacturers and employers should ship medical devices contaminated with blood. OSHA said equipment must be decontaminated as far as feasible, remaining contamination identified,…
Access to old exposure and medical records for a former worker
A family member asked how to learn whether a deceased former steelworker had been exposed to beryllium or uranium. OSHA explained its employee exposure and medical-record access rule and noted it…
Safety needles when withdrawing medication from a vial
A hospital asked whether staff must use a safety needle to draw medicine from a vial before switching to one for patient injection. OSHA said no extra control was required for the vial step because…
Tribal nurses and FLSA overtime scheduling
A tribal health operator asked WHD to waive FLSA overtime so its nurses could follow the same schedules as federal nurses at shared facilities. WHD said it had no authority to grant the requested…
Agency child-support withholding notices as domestic relations orders
New York asked whether state or county child-support agencies’ income withholding notices can be domestic relations orders for pension plans. EBSA said the described notices can meet that definition…
Domestic-partner coverage taxes paid by a welfare fund
A union welfare fund asked whether it could pay employment taxes and a gross-up arising from taxable domestic-partner health coverage. EBSA said participant tax payments and gross-ups must be…
PY 2001 labor market information planning grants
ETA set planning and reporting requirements for state labor market information grants in program year 2001. It allocated $37.088 million among states and territories, required plans for core data…
OSHA authority over self-employed construction workers
A requester asked whether OSHA may cite a self-employed person at a construction site. OSHA said it has no authority over a worker who is truly self-employed and has no employees. A general…
Construction rules for a paving-material transfer vehicle
A lawyer asked which OSHA construction standards apply to a paving-material shuttle vehicle. OSHA said equipment and conveyor rules would ordinarily apply in ground-level paving, while other…
Fire barrier between oxygen and acetylene cylinders on a cart
A cart maker asked if a steel barrier between stored oxygen and acetylene cylinders meets OSHA’s separation rule. OSHA said it could if at least five feet high, rated for one-half hour of fire…
Temporary stair systems under construction stairway rules
A manufacturer asked OSHA to approve two temporary stair systems. OSHA said it does not approve products. It treated the ground-supported L-400 as a stairway and the low-angle A-500 as a stairway…
Hydraulic cranes and older construction consensus standards
A crane trade group asked whether older OSHA crane rules covered hydraulic cranes and whether newer consensus standards could be used. OSHA pointed to a hydraulic-crane provision and said equal or…
Unauthorized extension of a paid break
An employer asked whether an employee’s unauthorized extension of an allowed break caused the entire break to become unpaid. WHD said only the unauthorized extra time would be excluded from hours…
Olympic organizing committee and seasonal recreation exemption
An Olympic organizing committee asked whether its employees qualified for the FLSA seasonal amusement or recreation exemption. WHD said its 2000 receipts met the statutory six-month comparison, so…
HAZWOPER training for security guards at hazardous releases
An employer asked what HAZWOPER training security guards need when they raise alarms and control remote access to a release. OSHA said the stated limited duties fit the awareness level. Responders…
Needlestick control devices in healthcare facilities
A requester asked whether hospitals must use safety needles, when the duty applies, and how OSHA enforces it. OSHA said appropriate engineering controls are required where blood exposure is…
Religious objections to construction hard hats
A worker asked whether a 1975 hard-hat exemption memorandum was still in force. OSHA said its 1994 directive superseded that memo and generally avoided citations against employers when employees…
Structural-steel slip resistance in the 2001 steel-erection rule
A requester questioned OSHA’s approach to slip resistance on structural steel. OSHA described the negotiated rulemaking, testing, and the rule’s slip-resistance provision. OSHA now labels this…
Home care aides in adult homes and senior communities
A home care agency asked whether aides serving residents in large adult homes and senior communities worked in private homes for the FLSA companionship exemption. WHD said the described facilities…
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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.