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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In-kind fund shares for bank in-house plans under PTE 77-3
A fund administrator asked whether a bank's in-house plan could exchange securities for shares in a fund the bank advised. EBSA said prohibited transaction exemption 77-3 was not limited to cash…
Instructions for Title II JTPA Quarterly Financial Status Report
ETA transmitted revised instructions and a two-page form for states to report Title II JTPA fund availability, accrued expenditures, program income and participant counts. Separate cumulative…
Instructions for the JTPA Title II quarterly financial status report
ETA told state JTPA administrators how to report Title II funds, expenditures, transfers and participant counts each quarter. It supplied revised form instructions and a fixed record format for…
Revised JTPA Summary Program Report instructions
ETA revised instructions for the JTPA Summary Program Report, clarifying participant counts for summer youth and state education grants and financial reporting for summer youth. It sent states the…
Process for setting UI PERFORMS Tier I criteria
ETA described how it planned to set national minimum criteria for unemployment insurance performance measures covering benefits, appeals and taxes. Specialist groups would draft criteria, ETA would…
Landing-platform spacing on fixed chimney ladders
A stack manufacturer asked whether its structure counted as a chimney and whether ladder platforms more than 30 feet apart met OSHA's rule. OSHA said the stack was a chimney and the then-current…
Box-fan cords and scaffold base plates at construction sites
A construction safety engineer asked whether a residential box fan with a flat cord could be used on site and whether a scaffold screw jack could sit directly on a plank. OSHA said the fan could be…
Reduced FMLA leave and ADA accommodation
WHD considered an employee with a lasting injury who worked a reduced schedule. It said permanent limits did not by themselves defeat eligibility for medically necessary intermittent or…
Revised JTPA performance-standard definitions
ETA issued a corrected attachment of definitions for JTPA performance measures covering adults, youth, older workers, and displaced workers. The letter says it deleted an erroneous paragraph from…
Qualifications for asbestos bulk sampling
A safety professional asked whether experience or a Certified Safety Professional credential was enough to collect asbestos bulk samples. OSHA said those credentials alone were insufficient; the…
Interim enforcement policy for arborist logging citations
OSHA told regional offices how to handle logging-rule citations involving ornamental shrub and tree services while it discussed the issue with the arborist industry. It directed offices not to cite…
JTPA Title II and III performance standards for program years 1998 and 1999
ETA gave states additional performance standards for Job Training Partnership Act programs in 1998 and 1999. The letter and six attachments define outcome measures, clarify youth training results,…
Recordability of workplace-related PCB blood levels
An OSHA official asked whether detectable PCB blood levels required health effects before being recorded as an occupational illness. OSHA said an abnormal result caused or contributed to by…
Welfare-to-Work formula grant financial reporting
ETA told states how to report Welfare-to-Work formula grant spending, match funds, program income, and participant outcomes. It supplied a quarterly financial status form, definitions for each…
Plastic drums for flammable methanol mixtures
LNT Enterprises' president asked whether a 35-percent methanol windshield-solvent mixture had to be moved from plastic drums into metal containers. OSHA said approved plastic containers or drums…
Electrical testing on energized food-service equipment
An equipment company asked whether technicians testing 120- or 240-volt commercial appliances needed insulating gloves. OSHA said testing could be done energized only as long as necessary and that…
Updating and revalidating process hazard analyses
An employer asked whether a five year process hazard analysis revalidation required an entirely new analysis. OSHA said employers may update and revalidate an existing analysis if they evaluate its…
Quaker retirement community benefit plans as church plans
A Pennsylvania continuing care community asked whether four pension and welfare arrangements were church plans. EBSA agreed based on an IRS ruling if operations remained substantially as described…
Portable ladder load ratings above 300 pounds
A worker worried that a 300-pound industry ladder rating could exclude larger workers carrying equipment. OSHA said its then-current portable-ladder rules did not prohibit ladders safely rated above…
Program Year 1998 JTPA and Wagner-Peyser waiver guidance
ETA explained how existing Job Training Partnership Act and Wagner-Peyser Act waivers would be extended for Program Year 1998 and what performance improvements states were expected to achieve. It…
Fall protection at the edge of an empty swimming pool
A consultant asked what fall-protection rules covered workers beside an unfinished, unfilled residential pool. OSHA said the pool edge was an unprotected side or edge requiring conventional…
Fall arrest anchors on guardrails and crane runways
A crane company asked where workers accessing a crane runway could attach fall-arrest equipment. OSHA said ordinary guardrails were not anchorage points unless specifically designed to meet the…
Soap-and-water handwashing facilities for farmworkers
A blueberry grower asked to use a waterless hand cleaner instead of the field-sanitation rule's handwashing facility. OSHA said the rule required potable water, soap and single-use towels, citing…
Parents-in-law as legal wards under the FMLA
WHD considered an employee appointed co-guardian for parents-in-law. It said a legal ward falls within the FMLA’s son-or-daughter category only where the relationship is like that of parent and…
Job restoration after FMLA leave during reorganization
WHD considered a sheriff's office that wanted to redistribute a technician's specialized work during FMLA leave. It said business need alone creates no exception to restoration to the same or an…
Using a ladder-mounted wheel to hoist construction materials
A roofing-equipment maker asked which ladder and hoist rules applied when a wheel mounted on a ladder lifted materials. OSHA said workers were not using the ladder for climbing during that activity,…
Elimination of the Interstate Continued Claim form
ETA told state unemployment agencies that the Interstate Continued Claim form, IB-2, would be eliminated for claims filed from July 6, 1998. Liable states would provide claimants a way to certify…
Remote water-treatment plant exemption from process safety management
An Alaska safety official described an unstaffed water-treatment site with chlorine cylinders, remote alarms and brief routine worker visits. OSHA said the described site qualified as a normally…
Universal precautions in a care facility's bloodborne pathogen plan
A care facility proposed limiting its bloodborne pathogen protections to patients known or suspected to have HIV or hepatitis B. OSHA said the plan should instead use universal precautions whenever…
ICON withdrawal and invalid claim information application
ETA told state unemployment agencies about a new Interstate Connection application that would let states share information on withdrawn claims and claims with ineligible monetary determinations. It…
Socially responsible mutual funds under ERISA fiduciary duties
A fund provider asked whether a plan fiduciary could select a socially responsible mutual fund as an investment or participant option. EBSA said the same prudence and loyalty standards apply as to…
Underground construction coverage, controls and variances
An underground construction association asked OSHA to clarify when its tunneling rule covered pits and how several safety requirements applied. OSHA said the rule covered pits with foreseeable…
JTPA Summary Program Report form and reporting instructions
ETA gave states a new JTPA Summary Program Report to track summer youth and state education grants. It added financial and cost fields, required planning, mid-summer and final reports for Title…
Posting OSHA notices for mobile vending crews
A state safety official asked where a business operating from portable carts or stalls should post the OSHA workplace notice. OSHA said a supporting central office where employees report is an…
Hoisting a worker in a boatswain's chair by crane
A contractor asked whether a worker could ride a boatswain's chair on one crane line while using the other line for loads. OSHA said crane hoisting generally required a personnel platform and could…
Asbestos-containing joint compound and surfacing material
A South Carolina safety official asked why OSHA treated asbestos-containing wallboard joint compound differently from surfacing material. OSHA said the standard's Class II work definition and…
Transportation services for welfare-to-work participants
ETA, HHS and DOT told state and local agencies how then-current TANF and Welfare-to-Work funds could support transportation for eligible families moving into jobs. The letter explains funding…
Brake monitoring and training for mechanical power presses
A requester asked three questions about mechanical power presses. OSHA said a brake monitor was not required under the specified no-hands-in-die conditions, set no fixed training period, and…
HAZWOPER refresher training and documentation
An environmental services employer asked whether an outside trainer had to cover company-specific HAZWOPER content and how annual refresher training should be documented. OSHA said the employer…
Reimbursing combined wage claims through Treasury's unemployment trust fund system
ETA told state unemployment agencies to reimburse other states for combined wage claims through Treasury's online Unemployment Trust Fund system. It gave interim instructions for showing incoming…
Physician signature on asbestos medical-surveillance opinions
A company asked whether someone working under a licensed physician could sign the written opinion required after an asbestos medical examination. OSHA said the physician had to review and concur in…
Blood-derived medicines under the bloodborne pathogens rule
A hospital asked whether employees handling immune globulins, albumin and clotting factors could rely on a supplier's material safety data sheet instead of bloodborne pathogen precautions. OSHA said…
Fax access to injury logs and hearing-loss recordability
An airline asked whether centrally stored injury logs could be faxed promptly to worksites and when hearing-test shifts had to be recorded. OSHA said immediate printed access by fax met the…
OSHA's 1998 position on workplace drug and alcohol hazards
A safety coordinator asked whether OSHA required a workplace free of alcohol- or drug-impaired machine operators. OSHA said in 1998 it had no specific standard, supported reasonable prevention…
IRS levies on unemployment compensation
ETA told state unemployment agencies that, although the IRS had authority to levy up to 15 percent of certain unemployment benefits, it had chosen not to use that authority except for child support…
Two-in/two-out staffing for interior firefighting
A lawyer asked OSHA for examples supporting its two-in/two-out rule for interior firefighting. OSHA said two firefighters inside must remain in contact and at least two outside must monitor and be…
First-instance OSHA penalties and consultation services
A member of Congress asked why OSHA could penalize a business on its first inspection and how it calculated the amount. OSHA said Congress authorized first-instance penalties and described a case in…
Qualified inspectors for annual bakery oven checks
A baking cooperative asked whether a particular experienced representative could perform members' annual oven inspections. OSHA said it interpreted the rule's manufacturer-representative requirement…
Chest freezers and permit-required confined spaces
A trainer asked whether a typical chest freezer with a top lid counted as a permit-required confined space. OSHA said the described shallow freezers did not meet the restricted-entry-or-exit element…
Residential construction and slide-guard fall protection
A construction adviser asked whether house-like buildings used for other purposes could use residential fall-protection alternatives and whether slide guards sufficed. OSHA described its…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefit amounts for April–June 1998
ETA gave state employment agencies minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from April through June 1998. Its attachment lists each jurisdiction's average…
Eating and drinking in pharmacy work areas
A senator asked whether OSHA prohibited eating or drinking anywhere medications were handled in a pharmacy. OSHA said it had no pharmacy-specific ban, but its sanitation rule barred those activities…
Class III asbestos work, training and protective measures
An environmental consultant asked how asbestos rules applied to fastening objects into walls and floors and which materials counted as surfacing material. OSHA said work had to be evaluated case by…
Aerial-lift restraint and fall arrest for electrical work
A rural electric cooperative asked how fall protection rules applied to workers in aerial lifts. OSHA explained that restraint prevents a lower-level fall, fall arrest requires a harness rather than…
Scaffold platform width on concrete formwork walers
A safety consultant asked whether a worker could stand on a narrow waler attached to concrete formwork. OSHA said the photographed waler was a scaffold platform under its scaffold rule, so the…
Year 2000 compliance for JTPA reporting systems
ETA asked states to assess, update and test Job Training Partnership Act reporting systems for Year 2000 date problems. It set out state and federal responsibilities, including work with local…
Incipient-fire response in permit-required confined spaces
A safety consultant asked whether responders could enter a permit-required confined space to extinguish an incipient fire without first obtaining an entry permit. OSHA said the fire-brigade rule…
Sunscreen and clothing for outdoor-worker sun exposure
A requester asked OSHA how it viewed skin-cancer risks for outdoor workers. OSHA said its general PPE rule addressed sun radiation indirectly and pointed to wide-brim hats and long sleeves, with…
Reallotment of JTPA Title III formula funds for program year 1997
ETA sent state workforce agencies a Federal Register notice reallocating unspent JTPA Title III funds. The notice identifies states whose funds would be recaptured, explains redistribution to…
Separate injury log for a shared warehouse
A company asked whether a warehouse shared by two manufacturing sites needed its own injury and illness log, even though no workers were permanently assigned there. OSHA said the warehouse was a…
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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.