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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Connected methanol storage under process safety rules
A company asked whether atmospheric methanol storage tanks were exempt from OSHA’s process safety management rule. OSHA said the storage exemption applied to storage facilities and transfer conduits…
Adopted children’s group health coverage under ERISA
An adoption organization asked when ERISA group health plans must cover a child placed for adoption. EBSA said coverage begins when the participant or beneficiary assumes a legal support obligation…
Disaster assistance benefit computation, July–September 1995
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to use an attached state table when calculating Disaster Unemployment Assistance for major disasters declared from July through September 1995. The table…
Tree trimming near electric supply lines
A risk manager asked whether employees trimming park trees near power lines were covered by OSHA’s electric power standard. OSHA said line-clearance work within the stated distance was covered,…
Fall protection on extendable gangways
A gangway seller asked OSHA to assess its extendable design. OSHA said the missing midrail appeared to violate its then-current platform rule, but could be treated as de minimis if users had…
FMLA leave for substance abuse treatment
WHD distinguished treatment for substance abuse from an absence caused by substance use. Treatment by a health care provider or on referral may qualify for FMLA leave if the serious-health-condition…
FMLA designation and a more generous leave policy
WHD said a covered employer may designate a qualifying illness absence as FMLA leave even if the employee did not request that label. It also said the employer must honor a negotiated leave policy…
Counting work during FMLA leave and restoration
WHD considered an employee who worked part of the time while caring for a seriously ill child. It said hours actually worked could not be charged against the employee's FMLA leave allowance, and…
Shared FMLA leave limit for spouses at one employer
WHD answered a concern about the FMLA's shared 12-week limit for spouses working for the same employer. Under the statute as discussed in this 1995 letter, the agency said that limit applied to a…
Guarding belts in air handling equipment
An air conditioning manufacturer asked which OSHA rule required belt guarding and whether a sheet metal cabinet was enough. OSHA pointed to its general machine guarding rule and said the cabinet…
Patient privacy during OSHA inspection photography
A health care association asked about OSHA photos and video in workplaces where patients might be visible. OSHA said identifiable patient images required consent, and safe demonstrations using…
Repaying health premiums after FMLA leave
WHD considered how an employee should repay their share of group health premiums advanced by an employer during FMLA leave. It said the regulations supplied no specific repayment schedule when the…
Bicycle commute after workplace CPR class
An employer asked whether an injury during a bicycle trip home after a CPR class belonged on the injury log. OSHA treated the trip home as the second leg of a normal commute and said the case should…
Fall protection plans for precast erection
OSHA told its regional administrators how to evaluate fall protection plans for precast concrete erection when conventional protection was infeasible or more hazardous. The memo accepted the sample…
Waiver of JTPA state liability and debt collection after fraud
ETA explained when states could seek relief from JTPA liability or approval to stop certain debt collection against a subrecipient after fraud. The revised rules still required statutory criteria, a…
Excavation enforcement for house foundations
A senator asked OSHA to address builders’ concerns about applying excavation rules to house foundations. OSHA said it had developed a field memorandum to resolve the nationwide issue and sent it…
Excavation enforcement for house foundations
A representative asked OSHA to address builders’ concerns about applying excavation cave-in rules to house foundations. OSHA sent its field memorandum, which described conditions for suspending…
Steel erection fall protection enforcement
OSHA gave regional administrators an enforcement policy for fall protection during steel erection while its rulemaking continued. The page later directs readers to OSHA’s March 2002 steel erection…
Bloodborne pathogen precautions in allergy skin testing
A diagnostic device company asked whether allergy skin testing was covered by OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens rule and whether OSHA would endorse its product. OSHA said anticipated contact with blood…
Corneal abrasions on the injury log
An employer asked when corneal abrasions belonged on the OSHA injury log. OSHA said an abrasion without medical treatment, lost consciousness, days away, restricted work or job transfer was not…
Confined-space rescue and hazardous-waste training
An employer asked whether people rescuing workers from permit-required confined spaces also needed training under the hazardous waste emergency response rule. OSHA said yes when the operations were…
Plant-specific PPE hazard assessments
A company asked whether different plants could reach different PPE decisions for similar jobs. OSHA said each workplace needed its own hazard assessment and that different decisions could be…
Repair of crane sheaves by grinding
A maritime association asked OSHA about its earlier memo on refurbishing crane sheaves. OSHA said the memo addressed acceptable repair methods and factors in resurfacing, rather than detailed damage…
Repair of crane sheaves by grinding
A shipping association asked OSHA about its earlier memo on refurbishing crane sheaves. OSHA said the memo was meant to guide acceptable repairs and the choice between resurfacing and replacement,…
House foundation excavation enforcement suspension
OSHA instructed its regional offices to suspend enforcement of a cave-in protection rule at certain house foundation or basement excavations if all specified conditions were met. The memo excluded…
Credit-card access to retirement plan participant loans
A bank asked whether processing participant loans through a credit-card program would make it an ERISA plan fiduciary. EBSA said the proposed general processing duties did not on their face make the…
Telephone and electronic unemployment claim processing
ETA explained how state unemployment agencies could use telephone or electronic claims systems while meeting federal requirements. It addressed identity checks, citizenship declarations, documents…
California school health trust as governmental plan
A trust for California public school employees asked whether covering a small number of its own and union employees ended its governmental-plan exemption. EBSA said it did not, given their very…
Minnesota public employee insurance plan status
Minnesota asked whether employees of certified public-sector unions could join its public employee insurance plan without changing its ERISA status. EBSA said their expected share was extremely…
Group health coverage during and after FMLA leave
WHD addressed group health coverage during FMLA leave and its interaction with later COBRA coverage. It said an employer generally must maintain coverage during qualifying leave, with stated…
Testing frequency for laboratory safety showers
A requester asked how often laboratory emergency showers must be tested. OSHA said Appendix A’s recommendation for routine inspection was not a mandatory rule it would ordinarily cite; inspection…
Recordkeeping for travel, hypertension and on-call trips
A state labor researcher asked OSHA how to log travel-related injuries and work-related hypertension. OSHA explained its then-current treatment of travel outside the normal work area, hypertension…
Fall protection for lifted rebar assemblies
A construction safety manager asked whether OSHA’s earlier rebar fall protection policy applied to assemblies built on the ground and lifted by crane. OSHA said it did not; workers on those lifted…
Pension rollovers and unemployment benefit offsets
ETA explained when rolling pension funds into another eligible plan counts as receipt of retirement pay for unemployment benefit offset purposes. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Chiropractors under the FMLA provider definition
WHD responded to a request to broaden the FMLA rule's recognition of chiropractors as health care providers. It described the rule's specific spinal-manipulation condition and said the broader…
Mercy Life Center pension as church plan
A Catholic health institution asked whether its pension plan for employees of related Mercy organizations qualified as a church plan. EBSA said church control and association of the institutions and…
Good Shepherd retirement plan as church plan
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd asked whether a retirement plan covering its employees and two related institutions was a church plan. EBSA said the order’s control and religious association of…
Recordkeeping for telework and cumulative trauma
An employer asked about new cumulative trauma cases, off-premises injuries and work at home. OSHA explained how it then determined new cases and work relationship, including for carpal tunnel…
Connecticut labor-management cooperation fund outside ERISA
An electrical-industry labor-management committee asked whether its jointly funded cooperation trust was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said its described activities, such as improving labor-management…
Charter school contributions to California teachers pension
California’s teachers retirement system asked whether accepting pension contributions for one charter school’s staff during its short-lived charter would affect governmental-plan status. EBSA said…
St. Joseph’s University employee plans as church plans
A Jesuit university asked whether its employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA said the order’s control of the university and its associated plan committee met the church plan definition on…
Archmere Academy employee plans as church plans
A Catholic academy asked whether its employee benefit arrangements were church plans. EBSA said control by the Norbertine order and the religious association of the academy and plan committee met…
Franciscan hospital health plans as church plans
A Franciscan order asked whether health plans at eight related institutions were church plans. EBSA said the order’s control and religious association of the institutions and their plan committees…
Industrial trucks in explosive aluminum dust
An aluminum manufacturer asked which powered truck could be used where aluminum dust might reach explosive concentrations. OSHA said its cited rule prohibited trucks in hazardous concentrations of…
Restricted work after an occupational injury
An employer asked if an injured worker’s inability to enter a contaminated area counted as restricted work. OSHA said it did if the worker would otherwise be expected to perform that task during the…
Dental office complaint processing procedures
OSHA instructed its field offices how to process complaints about dental offices under a 1995 program. Complaints meeting listed criteria called for on-site inspections; other complaints could be…
Combined wage claim billing and reimbursement procedures
ETA clarified how states should bill and reimburse one another for unemployment benefits paid on combined wage claims. It told paying states to separate charges by benefit year, request new wage…
Lockout duties of food safety inspectors
An OSHA regional office asked whether USDA food safety inspectors were authorized or affected employees under lockout rules. OSHA said the answer depended on the tasks and exposure; inspectors…
Retest timing for occupational hearing loss logs
An employer asked what date to enter for a recordable hearing loss and when a retest could remove the entry. OSHA said to use the initial test date and allowed removal if a retest within 30 calendar…
Logging cumulative trauma and work-related symptoms
A county employer asked whether an employee’s wrist condition should be recorded. OSHA said more facts were needed on work relationship, then explained when symptoms plus treatment or work limits…
Electrostatic spray painting variance requests
An OSHA office evaluated variance requests for electrostatic spray painting equipment at automobile plants. It said approval and testing information were incomplete and recommended further evidence…
Days away from work for at-home work after injury
An employer asked how to count lost time after a work-related injury when the employee could work at home. OSHA said a day still counted as away from work if the employee could not report to the…
Hazard communication for fire extinguishers
An OSHA regional office asked which of two conflicting letters governed fire extinguishers under the hazard communication rule. OSHA said its 1993 interpretation was correct: an extinguisher…
Program year 1995 JTPA Title III funding restrictions
ETA told state job-training agencies that 1995 Title III funds were exempt from a 25 percent cap on supportive services and needs-related payments. It explained when governors could waive the…
Using a quadruple sling after removing one hook
A safety consultant asked whether a defective hook could be removed from a four-leg sling and the sling used with three legs. OSHA said this was permissible if the sling’s integrity was unaffected…
Disaster benefit minimums after May 11, 1995
ETA explained that a May 11, 1995 rule change set the usual minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amount at half of a state's average weekly regular unemployment benefit, with an exception…
Fire extinguisher size on construction equipment
A construction firm asked what size fire extinguisher was required on construction equipment. OSHA said the cited fire protection rule set no specific size or weight and that a hazard assessment…
Fire extinguisher size on construction equipment
A construction company asked what size fire extinguisher OSHA required on construction equipment. OSHA said the cited construction fire-prevention rule did not specify a weight or size and that a…
OSHA enforcement at crane bungee-jumping sites
An industry group asked OSHA to halt bungee jumping from cranes. OSHA said it would investigate formal employee complaints as resources allowed and cite serious recognized employee hazards it found,…
Scissor-lift fall protection and elevated travel
An employer asked when workers on powered scissor lifts needed personal fall protection, whether elevated driving was allowed and whether an added platform could extend reach. OSHA said guardrails…
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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.