State and Federal Labor Guidance
Free state and federal labor-agency opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices, with plain-English summaries, current status, and the official source on every page.
No documents match your search
Try different keywords or clear a filter.
CARES Act unemployment program questions and answers
ETA answered state questions that arose while administering the temporary unemployment provisions of the CARES Act. Its attachment addresses how those provisions interact with other benefit and…
Program Year 2020 workforce and labor market information grants Withdrawn
ETA set Program Year 2020 requirements for state Workforce and Labor Market Information Grants. It described required databases, public data products, staff training, schedules, and other permitted…
Online and virtual-reality worker safety training
A training provider asked whether online or virtual-reality instruction alone can satisfy OSHA worker training rules. OSHA said adequacy depends on each applicable standard and the facts. Some…
Corrected farmworker housing reporting attachment, Change 1 Withdrawn
ETA corrected Attachment VI of TEGL 19-18 for National Farmworker Jobs Program housing grantees. When both reporting categories apply, grantees must report a family as one family and also report…
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance questions and answers
ETA answered additional questions from states administering Pandemic Unemployment Assistance under the CARES Act. The attachment covers eligibility, documentation and program operations for…
Revised ETA 9177 checklist for state UI system launches
ETA issued a revised ETA 9177 checklist and reporting instructions for states preparing to launch modernized unemployment benefit or tax systems. It clarified ten existing project categories and…
FY 2020 second Trade Adjustment Assistance fund distribution Withdrawn
ETA gave state agencies their second distribution of FY 2020 Trade Adjustment Assistance Training and Other Activities funds. It explained the formula and how states could request reserve funds for…
FFCRA leave when a summer camp closed Unknown
WHD addressed requests for Families First Coronavirus Response Act leave when a summer camp or program closed for COVID-19 reasons. Enrollment or recent attendance could show the camp would have…
Virtual schooling and child labor work hours
WHD said a public school district generally remains “in session” for child-labor hour limits when it requires virtual or distance learning, even if school buildings are closed. A physical closure…
Salary Thresholds for Exemption from Minimum Wage Act for White-Collar Workers
This L&I administrative policy explains how to calculate the salary threshold that executive, administrative, professional, and salaried computer professional employees must meet to be exempt from…
Definition of Fee Basis in Administrative, Professional and Outside Sales Positions
This short L&I administrative policy defines "fee basis" pay — a fixed charge for a single, unique job regardless of time spent, as opposed to hourly pay, piecework, bonuses, or commissions — which…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Outside Salespersons
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's outside sales exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections. To qualify, an employee's primary duty…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Computer Professional Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's computer professional exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections, covering systems analysts,…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Professional Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's professional exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections, covering four categories: learned…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Administrative Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's administrative exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections. It requires a primary duty of office or…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Executive Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's executive exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections. It lays out the four-part duties test…
General Information Applicable to Exemptions from Minimum Wage Act for White-Collar Workers
This L&I administrative policy is the umbrella introduction to the executive, administrative, professional, computer professional, and outside sales exemptions from Washington's Minimum Wage Act,…
Questions and Answers About Salary Basis
This L&I administrative policy is a 23-question Q&A on the "salary basis" requirement that bona fide executive, administrative, professional, and computer professional employees must meet to be…
How to Calculate Overtime
This L&I administrative policy is a worked-example companion to ES.A.8.1, showing exactly how to compute the "regular rate" and overtime owed under RCW 49.46.130 for different pay structures: a…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance benefits for summer 2020
ETA published state-by-state minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from July through September 2020. States were instructed to use the attached figures…
Exemptions for county emergency-management coordinators
A county asked whether emergency-management coordinators qualify for the learned professional or administrative exemptions. WHD said they may qualify for the administrative exemption depending on…
Outside-sales exemption for product demonstrators
An employer asked whether salespeople who demonstrate products at retail sites and other locations qualify for the outside-sales exemption. WHD said they sell away from the employer's place of…
Manufacturer incentive payments and dealership wages
Auto dealerships asked whether manufacturers' direct incentive payments to dealership sales employees may count toward the dealerships' minimum-wage obligations. WHD said they may count when the…
Outside-sales exemption at mobile selling locations
An employer asked whether salespeople using mobile assets at high-traffic locations and events qualify for the outside-sales exemption. WHD concluded the described workers met that exemption and…
Commission exemption during a new representative period
A home-furnishings retailer asked whether it may claim the commissioned employee overtime exemption for a new worker or store before completing a first representative pay period. WHD said it may…
Workforce grant performance data validation Rescinded
ETA gave state and other workforce grant recipients procedures for checking the accuracy and reliability of reported performance data. Its attachments provided validation instructions and…
Benefit Accuracy Measurement changes during the pandemic
ETA directed states to modify Benefit Accuracy Measurement software and case handling in response to increased unemployment claims and the temporary Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation…
Federal pandemic unemployment overpayment reporting
ETA gave states a new ETA 227 report for tracking overpayments and recoveries under the temporary Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. It replaced the FPUC overpayment reporting…
Program Year 2020 SCSEP allotments and CARES Act guidance Rescinded
ETA gave state and territorial Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees Program Year 2020 allotments and grant application instructions, plus partial-year national grantee funding during…
Revised enforcement guidance for recording COVID-19 cases Unknown
OSHA told inspectors how to evaluate an employer’s effort to decide whether a worker’s COVID-19 case was work-related and recordable. The memo described reasonable inquiries and evidence to…
Program Year 2020 Indian and Native American WIOA allotments
ETA gave WIOA Section 166 Indian and Native American grantees Program Year 2020 Comprehensive Services and Supplemental Youth Services allotments. It explained grant application documents,…
School employees and unemployment between terms during COVID-19
ETA explained how states should apply federal unemployment restrictions for certain educational employees between school terms and during breaks when COVID-19 disrupted school operations. The letter…
Temporary extended unemployment benefits changes during COVID-19
ETA explained temporary changes to the federal-state Extended Benefits program under pandemic relief laws. It covered federal cost sharing, work search rules, state administration and claimant…
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation questions
ETA answered state questions on eligibility and administration of the temporary Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. It also revised the ETA 227 overpayment reporting instructions…
Program integrity in regular and pandemic unemployment insurance
ETA reminded state UI agencies to maintain eligibility checks and fraud prevention while administering regular unemployment benefits and the temporary PUA, FPUC and PEUC programs. It set out program…
Accessible unemployment benefits and information
ETA and DOL’s Civil Rights Center reminded state UI agencies of their duties to provide accessible benefits, services and information to people with disabilities and people with limited English…
CARES Act grants for short-time compensation programs
ETA told states how to apply for CARES Act grants to establish, improve or promote short-time compensation programs. These programs let employers reduce hours for groups of workers while workers…
FPUC reporting instructions and state questions
ETA answered states’ questions about administering temporary Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and gave instructions for the ETA 9178-P quarterly narrative report. The attached questions…
Emergency UI grants and reporting under Families First
ETA gave states reporting instructions for emergency unemployment administration grants under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It explained a CARES Act amendment to the grant application…
Federal reimbursement for short-time compensation during COVID-19
ETA explained CARES Act provisions for short-time compensation, which lets employers reduce employee hours while workers receive partial unemployment benefits. It instructed states on temporary 100…
Federal funding of the first compensable UI week
ETA gave states operating, financial and reporting instructions for a temporary CARES Act provision funding the first compensable week of regular unemployment benefits in states that did not impose…
Benefit Accuracy Measurement reporting year 2020 Unknown
ETA gave state UI agencies deadlines and procedures for completing 2020 Benefit Accuracy Measurement cases and reconciling data before publication. Its two attachments define paid and denied claims…
Revised ETA-9130 financial reporting instructions Rescinded
ETA revised the ETA-9130 financial report and its instructions for grant recipients. The changes added a training expenditure line to some forms, clarified an existing reporting line, and adjusted…
Program Year 2019 dislocated worker fund reallotment Withdrawn
ETA tells states how Program Year 2019 WIOA Dislocated Worker allotments changed after it recaptured excess unobligated funds and reallotted them. The attachments give the revised state amounts. ETA…
FY 2020 Trade Adjustment Assistance initial allocations Withdrawn
ETA announced the initial FY 2020 state allocations for Trade Adjustment Assistance Training and Other Activities funds. It explained the allocation formula and how states could request reserve…
FY 2020 Trade Adjustment Assistance grant applications Withdrawn
ETA gave state agencies instructions for submitting applications for FY 2020 Trade Adjustment Assistance Training and Other Activities grants through Grants.gov. The funds could cover training, job…
CARES Act unemployment relief for reimbursing employers
ETA gave states initial instructions for CARES Act relief to government, nonprofit and tribal employers that reimburse states for unemployment benefits instead of paying UI taxes. The original…
PUA reporting instructions and state questions
ETA answered state questions about administering temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and supplied reporting instructions for the ETA 9178-P quarterly narrative report. Its attachments address…
Overtime for farm workers: distinguishing exempt harvesting from non-exempt post-harvest work
Following the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling in Arias-Villano v. Chang & Sons Enterprises that post-harvest tasks like cleaning, sorting, and packaging are not exempt "agricultural and farm work,"…
Enforcement guidance on decontaminated respirators in healthcare during COVID-19 Rescinded
OSHA gave inspectors temporary guidance on healthcare employers’ use of decontaminated filtering facepiece respirators during COVID-19 shortages. It discussed methods and conditions for reuse while…
Program Year 2020 WIOA and Employment Service allotments
ETA gives states and outlying areas Program Year 2020 allotments for WIOA Adult, Dislocated Worker, and Youth programs, the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service, and Workforce Information Grants. It…
Good-faith compliance efforts during COVID-19 enforcement Unknown
OSHA instructed inspectors to consider an employer’s good-faith efforts when pandemic restrictions prevented required recurring training, inspections, audits, or medical testing. It said inspectors…
Program Year 2019 state apprenticeship expansion grants Withdrawn
ETA announced $73 million in Program Year 2019 funding to help states expand Registered Apprenticeship programs. The required first tier funded baseline state capacity, while an optional second tier…
FY 2020 foreign labor certification state grant plans Withdrawn
ETA gave state workforce agencies FY 2020 grant planning guidance and allocations for foreign labor certification work, including job orders, agricultural housing inspections, and wage surveys. It…
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation operations
ETA gave states operating, financial and reporting instructions for temporary Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation under the CARES Act. The attachments address eligibility, state agreements,…
Expanded N95 fit-testing enforcement discretion during COVID-19 Rescinded
OSHA extended its temporary N95 fit-testing enforcement discretion from healthcare to all covered workplaces requiring respirators during COVID-19 shortages. It told inspectors to consider…
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance operations
ETA gave states initial operating, financial and reporting instructions for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance under the CARES Act. PUA covered eligible people outside regular unemployment insurance,…
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation operations
ETA gave states initial operating, financial and reporting instructions for the temporary Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation supplement under the CARES Act. The program added $600 a week to…
Temporary use of foreign-certified respirators during COVID-19 shortages Rescinded
OSHA gave inspectors temporary discretion for certain respirators certified under other countries’ standards during COVID-19 shortages. It listed acceptable product classifications and conditions…
Temporary respiratory protection policy for the COVID-19 N95 shortage Rescinded
OSHA gave inspectors temporary discretion for extended use, reuse, and certain expired respirators during the COVID-19 N95 shortage. The memo described conditions and cautions for employers in…
How this guidance is useful
- See how the agency reads the law: An opinion letter shows how a state labor agency actually applied wage-and-hour law to a real employer's or worker's situation.
- Check the status before relying: Every page shows whether the document is still active or has been superseded, rescinded, or withdrawn, and when that status was last verified.
- Guidance, not law: These documents explain the agency's position but bind no court, and the agency can change its view. The official document linked on every page is the authoritative source.
- Research across states: Compare how different states treat the same question, from overtime and travel time to tips and independent-contractor status.
Browse guidance by state
This library covers 8 states plus federal guidance so far. Every document is checked against the agency's official source before it is published, so states are added as their labor departments' guidance is verified, not all at once. If your state is not listed yet, its labor department's own site is the place to check.