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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Disclosure of usual-and-customary medical fee schedule
A union representative asked whether a health plan had to disclose the schedule of usual and customary fees used to determine claim payments. EBSA said documents containing procedures, formulas, or…
Insulated hand tools in general industry and construction
OSHA said general-industry rule 29 CFR 1910.335(a)(2)(i) required insulated hand tools near exposed energized conductors or circuit parts, while the construction standard then had no equivalent tool…
Harnesses, safety straps, and electric utility fall protection
OSHA reaffirmed that harnesses and body belts are fall-protection components rather than apparel under the cited electric-power rule. It distinguished dielectric testing for safety straps from body…
Catholic high school retirement and compensation plans
A Philadelphia Catholic high school asked whether its retirement and flexible compensation plans were church plans. EBSA agreed with an IRS private ruling if the school and plans were structured and…
Restricted-work injury logging under older OSHA guidance
Under its former injury log rules, OSHA treated normal duties as tasks an employee might be expected to do during the calendar year. A physician restriction affecting those duties made a…
Distance from unprotected construction edges
OSHA said no fixed distance from an unprotected edge automatically removes a fall-protection duty, though trained workers 50 to 100 feet away could present a de minimis condition. It distinguished…
Cumulative trauma case recording under older injury logs
Under its former OSHA Log 200 guidance, OSHA said a new cumulative trauma case arose when a worker stopped receiving care for 30 days and later returned with similar symptoms. It counted medical…
Crane personnel hoisting while a load is lifted
OSHA said the construction rule then in force prohibited a crane from hoisting personnel while lifting another load, including use of separate lines. It suggested separate cranes and described a…
Personnel platforms on general-industry overhead cranes
OSHA said the cited construction crane personnel-platform rule did not itself apply to general-industry sites. It considered full compliance with that rule appropriate protection for employees…
SCBA use by incipient-stage fire brigades
OSHA allowed the described incipient-stage fire brigade to use self-contained breathing apparatus because of possible toxic combustion products, provided members stayed within incipient-fire duties.…
Prescription medication and older injury-log medical treatment
Under the older recordkeeping guidelines, OSHA viewed one dose of local anesthetic and one dose to treat or prevent infection as two prescription doses, making the case medical treatment rather than…
Prison labor and the OSH Act employer definition
OSHA forwarded a solicitor’s analysis of whether PRIDE, which managed Florida prison work programs, qualified as an excluded state instrumentality under the OSH Act. The opinion concluded a court…
Pretax premium mechanism within group health plan
An employer asked whether a program allowing employees to pay group health premiums pretax was its own ERISA welfare plan. For the program as currently structured, EBSA said the tax-favored payment…
NFPA 101 as an interpretive reference for means of egress
OSHA clarified that a prior statement about NFPA 101 lacking force of law did not bar the agency from using consensus standards as reference sources. The memo includes the 1983 letter it corrected…
Older injury-log, hearing protection, and illness questions
Under the former recordkeeping rules, OSHA discussed when work-related soreness with restricted duty was recordable, when back symptoms formed a new case, and classification of lice or scabies…
Power roof cutters and asbestos roofing supervisor training
OSHA said use of a power roof cutter separates built-up roofing into pieces, but pieces can remain intact if the material stays bound in its matrix. It said the described operation required five-day…
Electronic safety data access and distributor duties under hazard communication
OSHA allowed electronic MSDS access if employees could obtain information immediately and a backup covered likely outages. It said compressed medical gases were outside the cited solid-drug…
Minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance for July–September 1996 disasters
ETA gave state agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from July 1 through September 30, 1996. It explained that the usual minimum…
Mercy psychiatric hospital retirement plan as church plan
A Mercy psychiatric hospital asked whether its employee retirement plan was a church plan excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA agreed with an IRS private ruling to the extent the hospital and plan were…
Floor openings and stair riser tolerances under older OSHA guidance
In this historical letter, OSHA cited a proposed provision on guarding certain small equipment openings with a toeboard and pointed to its de minimis policy for minor stair deviations without an…
Process operators taking limited action during HAZWOPER emergencies
OSHA described limited process-operator action during a HAZWOPER emergency if the incident command structure was notified, operators had training and PPE, used the buddy system, and the emergency…
Lutheran home care health and annuity plans
A Lutheran home care organization asked whether its group health and tax-sheltered annuity plans were church plans. EBSA agreed with an IRS private ruling if the organization and plans were…
Transfer of employer unemployment experience
ETA interpreted how state unemployment tax systems may transfer an employer’s experience when a business or part of one changes ownership. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Christian Brothers employee pension as church plan
A Christian Brothers plan asked whether it was a church plan. EBSA agreed with an earlier IRS private ruling to the extent the plan continued to be structured and operated as the ruling described.…
Bakery oven disconnect accessibility in retail stores
OSHA said the bakery equipment rule applied to retail grocery bakeries. Emergency disconnects had to be quickly and safely reachable, clearly marked if in a panel, and supported by employee…
Bulk sampling to rebut presumed asbestos material
OSHA said the cited asbestos construction and shipyard rules did not distinguish friable and nonfriable materials for bulk sampling. It set out the EPA protocol: three, five, or seven samples for…
Disinfectants for HBV and HIV on work surfaces
OSHA accepted two named disinfectants for solid, nonporous, precleaned surfaces if HBV and HIV were the only bloodborne pathogens of concern and EPA-approved concentrations were used. It said other…
Employer stock definition for ESOP purchase exemption
An employer asked which stock definition applied when an ESOP bought shares from disqualified persons under Code section 4975(d)(13). EBSA said that exemption incorporates ERISA section 408(e) and…
Bracing masonry walls over eight feet
OSHA said the bracing rule covers masonry walls over eight feet tall unless otherwise adequately supported, with or without rebar. Employers must account for expected forces such as wind and…
Silica special emphasis outreach materials
OSHA described information cards for construction and general industry, an updated silicosis slide presentation, and training for agency and state consultation staff as part of its silica outreach…
Lockout and tagout procedures, training, and inspections
OSHA addressed common energy-control procedures, training for every procedure an authorized worker may use, retraining after relevant changes, and annual inspections of each procedure. Its response…
When earned vacation can replace unpaid FMLA leave
WHD considered vacation earned in one year but unavailable for use until the next under a collective bargaining agreement. It said accrued paid leave can replace unpaid FMLA leave only when the…
Proposed injury-log exemptions for small employers and restaurants
OSHA described a 1996 proposal to exempt employers with no more than 19 employees, revise industry coverage, and bring more restaurant establishments into the logging system. Those were proposed…
Workers compensation decisions and older OSHA injury logs
OSHA explained that state workers compensation criteria and OSHA recordkeeping criteria differed; a compensation decision did not determine whether a case belonged on the OSHA log. It described work…
Illuminating Engineering Society lighting guidance
OSHA identified an IES-assisted industrial lighting consensus standard referenced in general-industry and construction rules. It said employers could use a newer national consensus revision if doing…
Preliminary TSCA health studies on material safety data sheets
OSHA said TSCA Section 8(e) reporting and hazard-communication disclosure were separate duties. A statistically significant positive study conducted under established scientific principles could…
Isocyanate respirator approval in auto body spray painting
OSHA said a proposed charcoal-filter respirator needed NIOSH certification and it could not accept foreign approval alone absent an agreement. It discussed exposure monitoring and when respirators…
Volunteer rescue squads and state-plan OSHA coverage
OSHA said federal occupational safety law excluded state and local public employees, while approved state plans covered public workers. Whether an Iowa volunteer rescue or ambulance squad fell…
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act implementation memo
A Labor Department solicitor reviewed how the 1996 Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act affected OSHA, including compliance guides, small-entity advice, enforcement oversight,…
Draft workplace violence guidance for late-night retail
OSHA said it had consulted stakeholders on draft violence-prevention guidance for late-night retailers and that the guidance was educational. The guidelines themselves would not lead to General Duty…
Draft retail violence guidelines and enforcement concerns
OSHA told a member of Congress that draft late-night retail violence guidance was for technical assistance and would not itself trigger General Duty Clause citations. It described stakeholder…
Boy Scouts injury-log exemption under former rules
Under the former SIC-based injury-log system, OSHA said the Boy Scouts and its camps were regularly exempt from keeping logs, subject to other OSHA duties and a survey-selection exception.…
Temporary worker injury logs under former OSHA rules
Under the former injury-log rules, OSHA said the host firm recorded temporary workers’ cases when it supervised their daily work, including methods and processes. It discussed avoiding double…
Off-premises work injury and joint dislocation logging
OSHA said an off-premises injury could be work-related when the worker was performing company duties or present as a condition of employment. A joint dislocation impairing normal use was nonminor…
Business travel injury and location of injury log entry
OSHA treated the public building entrance as off the employer’s premises, but found the injury work-related because the employee was traveling on company business. Under its former system, it…
Casts, splints, and wraps under older medical treatment rules
Under its former recordkeeping rules, OSHA classified casts, splints, and other devices immobilizing a body part as medical treatment. Wraps, wristlets, and elastic bandages that did not constrain…
First aid and tagout in electric power work
OSHA said field crews needed at least two trained first-aid and CPR employees, with rescue equipment and demonstrated proficiency considered in assessing access to care. During testing, only tagout…
Conditions for disclosing unemployment wage records to private entities
ETA said a state unemployment agency could share employment and wage records with a private credit service when state law allowed it and a written agreement met specific conditions. The individual…
Roofing supplier fall protection and roof restraints
OSHA cited a February 1995 interpretation under which supplier workers delivering materials to residential or similar roofs need not be tied off. It also accepted roof restraints with anchorage and…
Awareness barriers and locked gates around moving machinery
OSHA said a warning chain generally did not prevent contact with moving machine parts. A locked gate could substitute for individual guards if employees could enter the hazard zone only when the…
Carbon dioxide displacement of oxygen hazard bulletin
OSHA agreed workers should be warned about oxygen displacement by carbon dioxide and said a hazard bulletin covering protective measures was being developed. OSHA archives this historical correspondence.
Approval of cut-resistant gloves under bloodborne pathogens standard
OSHA declined to approve or endorse cut- and puncture-resistant gloves for bloodborne pathogen protection. It said compliance depends on observed work practices and the potential exposure to blood…
Consumer product use under hazard communication
OSHA explained that hazardous consumer products are exempt from the Hazard Communication Standard when workplace use does not exceed the manner, frequency, and duration of consumer exposure. The…
Bar code records for fire safety equipment inspections
OSHA said a computerized bar code system had to capture all required fire-equipment inspection information, including required signatures and extinguisher identifiers. It also described its de…
Construction first aid instructor guide review
OSHA said the submitted guide covered required construction first aid procedures but should reflect that consulting-official approval of kits was no longer needed, address drenching where corrosive…
When state unemployment funds receive and expend money
ETA explained when money becomes part of a state's unemployment fund and when it leaves the fund under federal deposit and withdrawal rules. Contributions enter the fund as soon as the state or its…
1996 technical amendments and state-plan notification
OSHA notified state-plan officials of a 1996 federal rule removing and consolidating regulatory text across several parts of Title 29. The memo said states were encouraged but not required to mirror…
Asbestos glove-bag use and Class I repair work
A glove-bag maker asked OSHA to clarify how its asbestos rule treats larger glove bags. OSHA confirmed that a repair disturbing asbestos-containing material that cannot be contained in one standard…
Butterfly bandages under former injury log rules
OSHA said it did not regulate who could apply butterfly bandages or how they were applied. Under the former injury-log guidance, wound closures were medical treatment and ordinary wound coverings…
Treating physician name on former OSHA 101 report
OSHA said the former OSHA 101 form required the name and address of the treating physician when applicable, and a medical practice name alone was insufficient. It noted then-proposed changes to the…
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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.