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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Obligation of Welfare-to-Work formula funds
ETA explained that a 1998 technical amendment changed when states must obligate Welfare-to-Work formula funds. States with multiple service delivery areas still had to allocate the required share…
Refusing respirator medical exams and facial-hair alternatives
A representative of Lockton Companies asked whether employees had to submit to respirator medical evaluation and whether religious facial hair created an exemption. OSHA said workers may refuse…
Paying federal tax withheld from unemployment benefits
ETA offered states an optional Treasury process for sending federal income tax withheld from unemployment benefits to the IRS. The letter explains daily transfers through the Unemployment Trust Fund…
Asbestos building-owner duties and enforcement resources
A building-services firm asked about court challenges, compliance materials, citation data and OSHA enforcement of asbestos duties for building owners. OSHA said the cited owner requirements were…
Methylene chloride amendments and 1998 compliance dates
A national OSHA memo alerted regional offices to changes in the methylene chloride standard, including medical-removal protection, delayed startup dates for some controls, and continued short-term…
Historical FMLA spouse definition and domestic partners
WHD answered a question about leave to care for a domestic partner under the spouse definition then in force. The letter’s former definition and its discussion of the Defense of Marriage Act are…
Covering a shallow concrete elevator pit
A construction adviser asked what fall protection applied to an open four-foot-deep elevator pit. OSHA said it was a hole under the standard and, although the six-foot fall rule did not apply,…
Respirator fit tests and SCBA storage on fire trucks
A physician asked when qualitative or quantitative fit testing was required and whether fire-truck SCBA needed full covers. OSHA described fit-test choices under the respirator standard, accepted…
Respirator medical evaluations and employee-selected physicians
A union representative asked how the revised respirator rule handles medical evaluations. OSHA said employers must provide an evaluation, may use an employee's physician if they choose, and need not…
Two-in/two-out staffing for interior structural firefighting
A fire inspector asked whether each firefighter entering a structure required a matching outside firefighter and whether standby crews had to wait before a rescue. OSHA said two outside firefighters…
Material safety data sheet format under the 1998 hazard communication rule
A senator relayed a county employee's request for one format for material safety data sheets. OSHA said its 1998 rule recommended an ANSI format but let chemical suppliers choose how to present…
Selecting eye and respiratory protection for glass-bead work
A glass-bead maker asked what eye and respiratory protection to use in a studio. OSHA said the choice depends on a site-specific hazard assessment, including airborne exposure levels and the type of…
UCX eligibility for military separations due to inaptitude
ETA expanded the military separation reasons it treated as “inaptitude” for unemployment claims by former service members. It told states to use the revised list for claims filed from November 10,…
Descent control devices and fall arrest in construction
A construction equipment supplier asked what OSHA required for descent control devices such as figure eights and racks. OSHA said it had no device-specific rule, but general strength, training and…
Selective Service registration for JTPA eligibility
ETA told JTPA grantees how to check Selective Service registration when deciding whether a male applicant could receive program services. It distinguished applicants still able to register from…
Selective Service registration and JTPA eligibility
ETA instructed Job Training Partnership Act grantees how to assess Selective Service registration when deciding program eligibility. For applicants older than 26 who failed to register, local…
Backup alarms or observers for construction vehicles
A requester asked OSHA to weigh the safety benefit of electronic backup alarms against the noise they create. OSHA said construction vehicles with an obstructed rear view need either a…
Protective footwear and payment in longshoring
A maritime employers' association asked how OSHA's longshoring footwear rules compared with an industry safety code, who decides where shoes are required, and who pays. OSHA said the employer…
Decontaminating an SCBA's second-stage regulator
A respirator maker asked whether an SCBA's mask-mounted second-stage regulator must be cleaned when the wearer's exhalation valve is in that regulator. OSHA said it must be cleaned and…
Incumbent Worker System Building Demonstration
ETA invited states to apply for demonstration grants to build statewide plans for incumbent worker training. The letter described eligible planning work, a grant ceiling of $50,000 per state, and…
Incumbent worker system building demonstration grants
ETA offered states planning grants to develop incumbent worker training strategies and state plans. Each demonstration grant could run up to 12 months and provide up to $50,000, with applications…
Protective clothing for line-clearance tree trimmers
A utility asked what apparel requirements applied to line-clearance tree trimmers who were not qualified electrical workers. OSHA said the applicable electric-power rule points to its general PPE…
Employee medical records after an asset sale
A company that bought contracts and hired workers from another firm's environmental business asked whether it had to take over the seller's employee exposure and medical records. OSHA said the…
Lockout during grinding-wheel changes
A manufacturer asked whether an interlocked guard let a toolmaker change a grinding wheel without lockout or tagout. OSHA said no, because the wheel change occurred outside normal production and did…
Fit testing and medical evaluation under the respirator rule
A requester asked about fit testing, medical evaluations and voluntary use under the revised respirator rule. OSHA answered that full-face negative-pressure respirators needed quantitative fit…
Medical professional discretion in respirator evaluations
A health professional asked whether optional respirator questionnaire questions would become mandatory and whether a positive response always required a hands-on exam. OSHA said the professional…
Medical technicians and respirator evaluations
An industrial employer asked whether medical technicians working under a physician could conduct respirator medical evaluations. OSHA said the rule requires a physician or other licensed health care…
Grain-dust action level at feed mills
A feed-mill operator asked whether the grain handling standard's one-eighth-inch dust action level applied to feed mills. OSHA said that threshold was written for grain elevators and did not apply…
Year 2000 readiness of unemployment computer systems
ETA described its Year 2000 testing plans for the unemployment program's shared SUN computers and software. It told state agencies to test their own software and data feeds, prepare for a system…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance amounts for October–December 1998
ETA sent state unemployment agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October through December 1998. It instructed agencies to use…
Representative methylene chloride exposure sampling across sites
A business group asked whether sampling employees at one manufacturing site could represent workers in the same jobs at other sites. OSHA said no under the methylene chloride rule, because…
Classifying a product as a mixture for hazard communication
A lawyer asked OSHA to decide whether a client's abrasive product was a mixture under the hazard communication rule. OSHA said manufacturers make that determination and offered a distinction between…
Respirators for dichlorobenzidine-contaminated equipment
A lawyer asked what respiratory protection workers needed while repairing equipment used for, or contaminated by, dichlorobenzidine. OSHA said supplied-air respirators were required while…
Telephone backup for electronic material safety data sheets
A contractor asked whether workers could request material safety data sheets by telephone if an electronic system failed. OSHA said waiting up to two hours for a sheet was not immediate access. It…
Interim enforcement policy for the revised respirator standard
OSHA told its regional offices how to enforce the revised respirator standard after a small-business guide was published later than expected. For employers complying with the old rule, it directed…
Consumer association health program remains a MEWA
A consumer association sought reconsideration of an earlier opinion calling its health program a MEWA. EBSA said a program can be a MEWA even if it is not itself an ERISA welfare plan, and the…
Guarding automatic screw machines
A machine company asked whether guarding that followed an industry standard and manufacturer guidance met OSHA's requirements for automatic screw machines. OSHA said its machine-guarding rule was…
Group purchasing agreements and bloodborne pathogen controls
A lawyer asked whether healthcare group purchasing agreements violated OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule. OSHA said it did not decide the legality of purchasing contracts, but employers still had to…
Medical evaluations for required and voluntary respirator use
An airline asked whether disposable dust masks and supplied-air respirators require medical evaluation. OSHA said required dust-mask use does, while voluntary filtering-facepiece use does not. It…
Inspection standards for below-the-hook lifting devices and slings
A lifting-device supplier asked which inspection reference OSHA used for below-the-hook devices and whether engine carriers counted as slings. OSHA said it referred to ANSI/ASME B30.20 for device…
Clarifications to Year 2000 verification of UI systems
ETA clarified UIPL 38-98 by allowing state unemployment agencies to use a rapid initial independent review focused on benefit-year-ending functions for their December 1998 certification. States…
Life policy sales to relatives under PTE 92-6
A requester asked about three life-policy sale structures under prohibited transaction exemption 92-6. EBSA said sales to multiple eligible relatives, a policy insuring a participant and spouse, and…
Proposed verification procedures for federal unemployment benefits
ETA told state unemployment agencies that a Justice Department proposal would change how they verify eligibility for federal unemployment benefits, including benefits for former federal and military…
Screen doors for temporary labor housing
A Florida labor official asked whether OSHA's temporary labor housing rule required screen doors on every exterior doorway. OSHA said exterior doorways counted as exterior openings, so they had to…
Welfare-to-Work eligibility for noncustodial parents
ETA explained a 1998 amendment to eligibility for Welfare-to-Work services funded from the program's 70 percent targeted portion. The person receiving services, including a noncustodial parent, had…
Revised JTPA performance standards worksheets for program years 1998 and 1999
ETA corrected national averages in the optional worksheets states used to set local Job Training Partnership Act performance standards for 1998 and 1999. The changes affected the factors for people…
Y2K continuity plans for state unemployment agencies
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies to prepare separate Y2K continuity plans for benefit and tax operations. It identified core functions, supplied a sample planning matrix, and set 1998 and…
Welfare-to-Work formula and competitive grant questions and answers
ETA answered questions from state and local Welfare-to-Work grantees about who could receive services, how formula grant funds and matching contributions could be used, and how competitive grants…
Sun-exposure hazards and protective equipment for outdoor workers
A skin-protection company asked OSHA to clarify an earlier letter about outdoor workers' sun exposure. OSHA said its general PPE rule could apply when employee overexposure was established, but a…
Recording abnormal heavy-metal test results
An OSHA regional official asked whether elevated heavy-metal test results without symptoms were recordable. OSHA said the facts were insufficient by themselves; an abnormal test result was…
Adult education funds as Welfare-to-Work grant match
ETA told states when adult education spending could count toward their Welfare-to-Work formula grant match. Only nonfederal spending above the Adult Education Act's required 25 percent match could…
Preventing worker contact burns from heated surfaces
A manufacturer asked what pipe temperature triggered an insulation requirement to prevent burns. OSHA said it had no general temperature threshold, but cited industry-specific pipe rules,…
Prevailing conditions of work in UI claims
ETA told state unemployment agencies to check whether offered new work has substantially less favorable wages, hours or other conditions than similar work in the locality before denying benefits for…
Asbestos controls for material containing less than one percent asbestos
A lawyer asked OSHA to reconsider its interpretation of work on building material containing less than one percent asbestos. OSHA reaffirmed that certain wet-method and closed-container cleanup…
Fall protection while using the Elaminator 300 roof insulation system
A roofing-system maker asked whether its moving platform and cantilever plates met OSHA fall-protection requirements or needed a variance. OSHA analyzed hazards separately for insulation and…
1998 interest rate on Title XII unemployment advances
ETA announced that Treasury would charge 6.71 percent interest on Title XII advances to state unemployment funds during calendar year 1998. The letter made no further request of state agencies. ETA…
Independent verification of UI systems for Year 2000
ETA required state unemployment agencies to independently verify their automated benefit and tax systems for Year 2000 readiness, submit a review plan, and certify testing results to their regional…
Guarding 3M surface-conditioning wheels
A lawyer asked OSHA to classify specified 3M surface-conditioning wheels for machine-guarding purposes. After reviewing the product's materials and test data, OSHA said these wheels were polishing…
Interstate claim procedures and elimination of IB forms
ETA told state unemployment agencies that agent states would stop conducting separation fact-finding for interstate claims filed from September 3, 1998, and would stop using Forms IB-7, IB-16, IB-11…
Minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance amounts, July–September 1998
ETA sent state unemployment agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from July through September 1998. It instructed agencies to use…
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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.