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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Asbestos duties for employee housing and wallboard sampling
A university official asked whether asbestos communication duties apply to private homes, employer-provided housing, and wallboard. OSHA said a homeowner doing work in a private home is not a…
1996 minimum wage rules for JTPA participants
ETA told state workforce agencies that the 1996 youth opportunity wage did not apply to employment under the former Job Training Partnership Act. It said JTPA workers had to receive the highest of…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance, January–March 1997
ETA sent state unemployment agencies a table for determining minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared January 1 through March 31, 1997. It asked…
Fiscal 1997 unemployment workload validation
ETA told state unemployment agencies to continue validating their fiscal 1997 workload data. It made validation of nonmonetary determinations optional because the definition of that measure was…
Electronic services for material safety data sheet access
An electronic safety-data-sheet provider asked whether its service could satisfy OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA said manufacturers and distributors may use such services but retain…
Material safety data sheet information for an imported chemical
A chemical exporter asked OSHA for a material safety data sheet to compare with its own for a product shipped to the United States. OSHA said it did not maintain or approve manufacturers' sheets,…
HAZWOPER training certificates after employment ends
An employer asked whether former workers or their new employers could request HAZWOPER training certificates from a previous employer. OSHA said they could ask, but its rule did not require the…
Revised military remuneration schedule for UCX benefits
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies to use a revised military pay schedule to determine federal wages for new ex-servicemember claims beginning after April 5, 1997. Claims filed earlier…
1997 Summer Youth program guidance and state allocations
ETA told states how to run the 1997 Summer Youth Employment and Training Program under the former Job Training Partnership Act. It set goals for work experience and education, explained when youth…
Reallotment of 1996 JTPA Title III formula funds
ETA sent states a Federal Register notice identifying excess unspent JTPA Title III funds from program year 1995. The notice recaptures equivalent amounts from 1996 allotments and redistributes them…
Fall protection for entertainment-industry riggers
A theatrical workers' union asked which fall protection standards apply to riggers working high above a stage. OSHA said entertainment work generally falls under general industry rules, while…
Cross-view backup mirrors on delivery trucks
A member of Congress asked whether delivery trucks must have cross-view backup mirrors after a child was killed by a reversing truck. OSHA said it had no specific rule requiring those mirrors in…
Worker access to the OSHA 200 injury and illness log
A worker asked who could inspect the OSHA 200 injury and illness log. OSHA said employees, former employees, and their representatives were entitled to reasonable access to the entire log, not just…
Recording a punctured eardrum without treatment or lost work
An attorney asked whether a work-related punctured eardrum had to be logged when it caused no medical treatment or hearing loss. OSHA said that, under its then-current criteria, an injury with no…
Termination expenses of insolvent insurers’ pension plans
A California insurance liquidator asked whether pension plan assets could pay termination costs when sponsors were insolvent. EBSA said doing so, including maintaining tax-qualified status on…
Fall protection for general-industry rooftop surveys
A consultant asked whether construction fall-protection measures could satisfy a general-industry guardrail duty during rooftop surveys. OSHA said the construction rule could not itself be…
HAZWOPER training for maintenance workers at a waste facility
An employer asked whether workers who occasionally repair fire systems at a hazardous-waste facility need 24-hour HAZWOPER training. OSHA said the training does not apply if the employer can show no…
Union access to the OSHA 200 injury and illness log
An employer's attorney asked whether a union needed an individual worker's request to see the OSHA 200 log. OSHA said a union representing workers at an establishment could access the entire log…
Gasoline use for underground construction welding
A mining engineer asked whether gasoline could be used as welding gas in underground construction. OSHA pointed to the underground-construction hot-work and ventilation provisions and said…
Recording a reaction to travel vaccination
An employer asked whether a worker's reaction to a hepatitis A vaccination for required business travel had to be logged. OSHA said the clinic's recommendation for the required trip made the episode…
Revised interstate claims exchange and commuter weeks claimed reporting
ETA changed UIPL 38-96's interstate claims data exchange so state unemployment agencies would report reopened and transferred claims as well as initial claims. It also directed states to send…
Hazard communication coverage of dental devices
A dental trade group asked how OSHA's hazard communication rule applies to FDA-regulated dental devices. OSHA said FDA labeling can exempt a device from OSHA labeling, but covered hazardous devices…
California university foundation employees in CalPERS
A California State University foundation asked whether its employees could participate in CalPERS without changing the system’s governmental status. EBSA found the foundation a state agency or…
Illinois Catholic service corporation benefit plans
An Illinois corporation controlled by a Catholic religious institute asked whether its retirement and welfare plans were church plans. EBSA agreed with an IRS private ruling if the corporation and…
Nursing home safety initiative and existing employer duties
Two nursing-home associations questioned OSHA's publicity, education, and enforcement initiative. OSHA said injury data supported its concern, that outreach sessions were meant to explain safety…
Bloodborne pathogen duties for fixed HIV-infected tissue
An attorney asked whether work with fixed HIV-infected tissue and extracted genetic material triggers OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule and waste-treatment duties. OSHA said it could not classify the…
UCFE coverage ruling for USDA nutritional research subjects
ETA's attached coverage ruling says participants in USDA Agricultural Research Service nutritional studies did not perform federal service for unemployment compensation for federal employees. It…
Overhead steel loads during multiple-lift rigging
A steel erector asked about suspending multiple steel members over workers during a lift. OSHA discussed then-current limits and said dangerous rigging could raise a general duty issue, while…
Submitting proposed and enacted state unemployment laws
ETA reminded state unemployment agencies to send proposed bills as well as enacted laws to the federal agency for review. Early submission would allow federal staff to flag potential conflicts…
HAZWOPER medical surveillance intervals and covered staff
An employer asked whether some hazardous-waste workers could receive medical examinations every two years and whether occasional site visitors needed surveillance. OSHA said the attending physician…
Choosing and changing the FMLA 12-month leave period
WHD explained four methods an employer could use to set the 12-month period for FMLA leave. It said the chosen method generally must be applied consistently, and a change requires at least 60 days'…
Recordkeeping for temporary workers in nursing homes
OSHA corrected a nursing-home safety framework that had given incorrect injury-log advice about temporary workers. It said the firm supervising temporary workers day to day should record their…
Risk analysis training for state UI agencies
ETA announced spring 1997 training for state unemployment agency staff on analyzing security risks and using RiskWatch software. It gave eligibility, schedule, nomination, and travel details and…
Serious health condition, common illness, and treatment
A requester asked whether common illnesses, doctor visits, and complications could amount to an FMLA serious health condition. WHD explained that the answer depends on the statutory and regulatory…
Correcting WHD’s serious-health-condition interpretation
WHD revisited its 1995 response about whether a common illness could qualify as an FMLA serious health condition. It said its earlier view was incorrect and withdrew that letter. A condition…
Stay of roof bracket scaffold platform-width enforcement
OSHA told regional administrators that it had stayed enforcement of the 12-inch minimum platform-width rule for roof bracket scaffolds. It said manufacturers' input led it to seek a new rulemaking…
Maximum gap between adjacent tank-runway guardrails
A company asked how large a gap could remain where guarded runways on adjacent tanks meet but cannot be connected. OSHA said a maximum opening of four inches would satisfy the cited general-industry…
Employer payment for lost or replacement protective equipment
An employer asked whether it could charge workers who failed to bring employer-issued safety helmets or glasses to work. OSHA said required protective equipment generally had to be provided and paid…
Recording an injury when treatment is prescribed or declined
An employer asked how to log an injury when doctors gave conflicting views and the worker declined treatment. OSHA said the case should be judged by what occurred, including a prescription from the…
Initial investment timing for VCOC status
A requester asked when an entity can first claim venture capital operating company treatment under ERISA’s plan-assets regulation. EBSA said the initial 50 percent test must be met when it first…
Telephone and electronic unemployment claim filing
ETA explained how federal unemployment rules applied when states took claims by telephone or other electronic means. It addressed immigration documents, which state receives combined wage or…
Written medical opinion before hepatitis B vaccination
A medical provider asked whether OSHA required a healthcare professional's written opinion before hepatitis B vaccination, rather than only after an exposure. OSHA said employers must obtain a…
Minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance for October–December 1996 disasters
ETA gave state unemployment agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts to use for major disasters declared from October 1 through December 31, 1996. It explained that the…
Retention of confined-space atmospheric exposure records
A company asked whether atmospheric tests on confined-space permits needed only the permit's one-year retention period. OSHA's 1996 answer distinguished samples from atmospheres workers entered and…
Process safety coverage of vinegar manufacturing with ethanol
Michigan OSHA asked whether a vinegar plant's ethanol storage and dilution steps were separate under the process safety management rule. OSHA said interconnected vessels and on-site movement of…
Implementation of benefit accuracy measurement changes
ETA described changes approved for state Benefit Accuracy Measurement programs, including lower minimum sample sizes and more flexible investigation methods. States were to start the new sampling…
Using paid sick leave for adoption-related FMLA leave
WHD considered an adoptive parent's request to use accrued sick leave during FMLA leave after the employer allowed vacation leave instead. It said FMLA does not itself require paid leave and that…
Access to railroad tankcars during chlorine unloading
A consultant asked whether workers could use a railcar's ladder to reach chlorine-unloading connections. OSHA said a ladder meeting applicable DOT or OSHA requirements could be used, and that…
Bloodborne pathogen coverage of barber shop workers
A member of Congress asked whether OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule applied after a barber shop worker had a one-time bleeding episode. OSHA said barber shops must evaluate whether workers…
Disease-causing agents under the HAZWOPER hazardous-substance definition
An OSHA training office asked whether HAZWOPER's phrase 'other disease-causing agent' includes chemicals, irritation, or heat. OSHA said crystalline silica and chemicals causing diseases such as…
Eliminating hazards before reclassifying a permit-required confined space
An attorney asked how employers can eliminate hazards before reclassifying a permit-required confined space. OSHA distinguished elimination from isolation, discussed mechanical and hydraulic…
Hazard communication data sheets and DOT hazard labels
A distributor urged OSHA to replace material safety data sheet forwarding with a system modeled on transportation hazard labels. OSHA said its advisory work group had examined that idea and…
Military Reserve earnings and unemployment claims
ETA reported a GAO study finding that some military reservists had received unemployment benefits without reporting Reserve pay. It urged states whose laws reduce weekly benefits for that pay to…
Bloodborne pathogen coverage of Alaska custodial work
OSHA reviewed Alaska's response to a complaint about custodians and bloodborne pathogen exposure. It said employers must assess actual tasks and anticipated blood contact case by case; a maintenance…
Lockout and tagout during oil and gas maintenance
A consultant asked whether various oil and gas production maintenance activities fell under OSHA's lockout/tagout rule. OSHA said the rule protects both maintenance workers and others nearby from…
Counting restricted workdays when an injured employee does other tasks
An employer asked whether an injured worker who could not do the normal job but watched training videos or answered phones had days away or restricted workdays. OSHA said any work during part of a…
Recording pressure-related ear illness in flight crews
An airline asked whether a pressure-related ear condition during aircraft descent had to be recorded. OSHA said the gradual pressure change made the condition an illness under its older guidance and…
Health provider association program lacking employer control
A health-care provider benefit organization asked whether its program was one plan maintained by an employer association. EBSA found a service supervisor retained decisive control and the…
New Jersey Friends school pension as church plan
A Religious Society of Friends school asked whether its employee pension was excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA agreed with the submitted IRS private ruling if the school and plan still operated…
Enforcement of lockout and tagout after a court decision
OSHA instructed inspectors how to apply its lockout/tagout rule after a court decision involving a machine with warning signals and a multi-step startup. It said most enforcement would be…
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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.