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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Recurring dialysis and intermittent FMLA leave
WHD considered a worker needing fixed dialysis appointments twice a week, with no available alternative job. It said medically necessary intermittent FMLA leave could continue while the employee…
Roof Creeper scaffold apparatus and de minimis use
An inventor asked whether a roof platform could be used without the nails or ropes specified for roof bracket scaffolds. Based on the submitted patent, tests, and pictures, OSHA said proper…
Safety responsibilities for temporary workers
A staffing firm asked how OSHA's hazard communication duties applied when its employees worked at client sites. OSHA said the staffing firm and client shared responsibility: the firm provided…
Birmingham housing authority pension as governmental plan
A Birmingham housing authority asked whether its money purchase pension plan was governmental. EBSA said the authority was a public instrumentality under Alabama law, city appointment of…
Rules for rolling rooftop suspension scaffolds
An equipment maker asked which scaffold rules applied to rolling rooftop rigs that were not specifically named in OSHA's standards. OSHA explained why certain suspension-scaffold provisions did not…
Small gasoline containers on construction sites
A construction safety council asked about containers holding one gallon or less of gasoline. OSHA said metal or plastic containers listed or approved by the then-recognized testing laboratories…
Plain-language chemical hazard labels and safety sheets
A chemical manufacturer asked whether container-label warnings had to repeat material safety data sheet wording exactly and whether technical medical terms could be simplified. OSHA said labels…
Carcinogen determinations for cobalt compounds
A manufacturer asked whether an IARC review of cobalt compounds established a carcinogen label for its cobalt phthalocyanine sulfonate products. OSHA said the group summary might require checking…
Temporary U-bar guards for shipyard deck openings
An OSHA regional office asked the agency to rescind its acceptance of U-bar guards around temporary deck openings during ship repair and building. OSHA declined and explained why it considered the…
Access to material safety data sheets across worksites
A safety consultant asked whether one material safety data sheet repository could serve multiple buildings and whether one vendor's sheet or a CD-ROM could stand in for product-specific sheets. OSHA…
FMLA coverage of Louisiana legislative auditor staff
WHD considered employees of Louisiana's Legislative Auditor who worked in the state legislative branch and were outside civil service. Based on those stated facts, it said they fell outside the…
Substance-abuse return-to-work agreements and FMLA
WHD considered return-to-work drug-testing agreements following substance-abuse treatment. It said the FMLA did not alter employers' rights to maintain policies required by state workers'…
Correction on chemical mixtures under process safety rules
OSHA corrected its earlier answer to a chemical company about process safety management coverage for certain mixtures. It said toxic or reactive mixtures that were neither explosive nor flammable…
Recording bloodborne-pathogen exposure incidents
A lawyer asked whether a blood exposure involving someone outside the occupations covered by the bloodborne-pathogens rule could still be recordable. OSHA said injury-log requirements had a broader…
Working distances from energized conductors
An electrical contractors' group asked whether a universal two-foot rule governed work near energized conductors and whether distance was measured from a worker's reach. OSHA said required…
Medical surveillance for hazardous-materials response teams
A consultant asked whether technicians responding to uncontrolled hazardous releases were HAZMAT team members even if the plan did not name them that way. OSHA said regular offensive response duties…
Approval and grounding of electric construction tools
A tool company asked whether all electric construction tools needed testing approval and whether a listed double-insulated tool could use a two-prong plug. OSHA said electric tools had to be…
Aqueous hydrofluoric acid under process safety rules
A company asked whether aqueous hydrogen fluoride solutions fell under OSHA's process safety management rule. OSHA said hydrogen fluoride and anhydrous hydrofluoric acid were the same listed…
Barge-mounted crane securement and de minimis policy
A contractor requested a variance from the rule requiring cranes on barges to be positively secured. OSHA said a variance would not be needed for the described drill rig if it was used as proposed…
Demolition rules for interior rehabilitation work
A safety company asked whether interior gut rehabilitation without removing exterior or load-bearing structures counted as demolition. OSHA said the demolition rules applied to partial dismantling,…
Confined-space enforcement at construction sites
A shoring company asked whether OSHA's general-industry permit-space rule would be used at construction sites. OSHA said it would use applicable construction standards and, where appropriate, the…
Religious objections to hard hats under OSHA policy
An organization asked about exemptions from wearing hard hats for religious reasons. OSHA recounted the history of its earlier policy, including a 1991 memorandum broadening it beyond two named…
Disaster unemployment benefit amounts for January–March 1994
ETA told state unemployment agencies to use the attached average weekly benefit amounts when calculating disaster unemployment assistance for disasters occurring January through March 1994. Each…
Fall-through protection from a tested skylight
A skylight manufacturer asked whether its tested skylights could satisfy OSHA's opening-guarding rules without a separate rail or cage. OSHA said the submitted test data suggested a properly…
Passenger seat belts on employee transport buses
A construction employer asked whether buses used to move workers within a plant needed seat belts at every passenger seat. OSHA said its cited motor-vehicle rule did not require passenger belts on…
Military pay schedule for unemployment claims by ex-servicemembers
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to use the attached military pay schedule to determine federal wages for UCX first claims beginning with the first week after April 2, 1994. Earlier first…
Retroactive disability pension and FMLA health premiums
WHD considered a city employee granted FMLA leave while a disability-pension request was pending. It said a later pension award with a retroactive payment date did not erase the employee's FMLA…
OSHA coverage of public employees and poster duties
A correspondent asked who federal OSHA covered and which workplace poster employers had to display. OSHA explained that federal OSHA lacked direct jurisdiction over state and local employees, while…
Compressed air used to clean workers or clothing
An employer asked whether workers could use compressed air to clean their bodies and clothes. OSHA advised against it in general industry and explained that air used for cleaning had to be below 30…
Bloodborne-exposure cases on the OSHA 200 Log
OSHA told regional recordkeeping staff that bloodborne-exposure log duties reached some workers outside the occupations covered by its bloodborne-pathogens rule. It also addressed names on the old…
Long-term disability benefits after FMLA leave
An employer asked whether a long-term disability plan could restart a preexisting-condition waiting period after an employee returned from FMLA leave. WHD said the worker must regain benefits…
Recording first-, second-, and third-degree burns
An employer asked when burns had to be entered on the OSHA 200 Log. OSHA said any work-related third-degree burn and second-degree burns larger than a pinhead counted as nonminor; smaller burns…
Sick-leave accrual during unpaid FMLA leave
WHD addressed whether an employee continued earning sick leave during unpaid FMLA leave. It said FMLA protects benefits earned before leave but does not itself require additional sick-leave accrual…
Restricted-work entries for broad job classifications
An OSHA area director asked how a broad company job classification affected restricted-work entries. OSHA said all duties an employee normally performed or could be expected to perform during the…
Calibration gas bottles and the article exemption
A gas-monitor company asked whether its small pure-gas calibration bottles were exempt as articles under OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA said releases from the bottles could expose workers…
Federal OSHA posting requirements for small employers
A member of Congress asked which federal OSHA posting rules applied to an employer with no more than ten workers. OSHA said the basic OSHA notice had to be posted regardless of employer size, while…
OSHA posting duties for small employers
A member of Congress asked which OSHA notices a Pennsylvania employer with ten or fewer workers had to post. OSHA said its basic workplace poster and inspection citations were required regardless of…
Employer share of health premiums during FMLA leave
WHD answered whether an employer could shift its usual health-insurance premium share to an employee on FMLA leave. It said the employer must keep paying its regular share and cannot charge the…
First-aid kits and emergency eyewash guidance
A consultant asked OSHA about emergency eyewash units, first-aid kits, and workplace first-aid duties. OSHA referred to its earlier eyewash interpretations and said first-aid supplies should fit the…
ESOP loan repayment using unpledged stock-sale proceeds
An ESOP asked whether it could repay a sponsor-guaranteed loan with proceeds from employer stock that had not formally been pledged. EBSA said the loan exemption’s recourse limit does not by itself…
Hazard communication duties for veterinary drugs
A veterinary laboratory asked how OSHA's hazard communication rule applied to drugs. OSHA said hazardous drugs generally needed material safety data sheets, even where FDA labeling displaced OSHA's…
Whether a labor-management trust ceased to be an ERISA plan
A plumbing industry cooperation trust asked EBSA to reconsider its earlier welfare-plan classification because it no longer intended to offer training or other covered benefits. EBSA said the…
IRA purchase and leaseback of family school property
An IRA owner proposed buying property from a school founded by the owner’s daughter and son-in-law, then leasing it back at a possibly reduced rent. EBSA said using IRA assets for that arrangement…
California law enforcement disability program and ERISA
A requester asked whether a California law-enforcement disability program was a single ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said its organization admitted both employers and employee groups, so it was neither a…
FMLA employer coverage across corporate divisions
A requester asked whether five divisions of a holding company counted as separate employers. WHD treated the corporation as one employer for FMLA coverage and said workers from any division within…
Testing-laboratory approval for tunnel equipment
A tunnel equipment maker asked how OSHA decided whether electrical monitors and cables were approved for construction use. OSHA said the construction and general-industry testing-laboratory…
FMLA leave to care for a grandparent
WHD responded to a request to extend FMLA care leave to grandparents and other dependent relatives. It said the Act covered care for a spouse, child, or parent, including someone who had stood in…
Holiday pay during FMLA leave
WHD considered an employee who substituted paid sick and vacation leave during a period containing holidays. It said holiday pay depended on the employer's policy for comparable paid or unpaid…
Cash paid instead of medical insurance during FMLA leave
WHD considered a plan paying cash to employees who had medical insurance from another source and waived the employer's coverage. It said the FMLA required continuation of group health insurance…
Correction on hazardous extension-ladder setup
OSHA corrected a November 1993 answer about when misuse of an extension ladder could justify a citation. The corrected paragraph said a ladder set backward or too shallowly so its shoes failed to…
Medical treatment after bloodborne exposure for log purposes
A hospital employee-health group asked what counted as medical treatment for OSHA injury and illness logs after blood exposure. OSHA said diagnostic HIV and hepatitis B tests and exposure counseling…
Returning extracted teeth to patients
A senator asked whether OSHA prohibited dentists from giving patients their extracted teeth. OSHA said the bloodborne-pathogens rule governed how extracted teeth were handled when disposed of or…
Meaning of direct recirculating bakery ovens
A bakers' cooperative asked what 'direct recirculating ovens' meant in OSHA's bakery-equipment standard. OSHA adopted the ANSI definition: a burner heats gases that mix with returned oven gases and…
Faucet-mounted emergency eyewash stations
A loss-prevention manager asked whether a faucet-mounted emergency eyewash could meet OSHA's first-aid rule. OSHA referred to ANSI specifications and highlighted prompt, hands-free valve operation…
Treatment of revised unemployment rates in Extended Benefits triggers
ETA told state unemployment agencies how to use revised historical unemployment data when calculating the alternative trigger for Extended Benefits. Once the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes…
TNCO self-funded employee health plan under ERISA
A health-claims administrator asked whether TNCO’s self-funded employee health plan was covered by ERISA. EBSA said the plan was a single-employer welfare plan and that the described plan did not…
Methanol connected to a chlorine-dioxide process
A correspondent asked whether an atmospheric tank holding at least 10,000 pounds of methanol, piped through a water mixer to a chlorine-dioxide process, fell under process safety management. OSHA…
State UI benefit averages used for 1993 disaster assistance
ETA told state unemployment agencies to use the attached state average weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts when calculating disaster unemployment assistance for disasters occurring October…
Protective tennis shoes at construction sites
A safety company asked whether steel-toed, steel-shanked tennis shoes could be used at construction sites. OSHA said shoes meeting the cited safety-toe standard could be suitable where site…
Paid leave and the FMLA 1,250-hour eligibility test
A requester argued that paid leave should count toward the 1,250 hours needed for FMLA eligibility. WHD said the test counts hours worked under the referenced FLSA hours-worked principles; paid and…
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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.