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.
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Eight-hour training for hazardous-waste first responders
An employer asked whether the eight-hour minimum training requirement for first responders at the operational level means eight instructional hours or a normal workday. OSHA said the requirement…
Effectiveness of two syringe recapping devices Unknown
OSHA technical staff reviewed two syringe recapping devices for field personnel. They considered one shield too small to protect the whole hand and found the other suitable only for larger gauge…
State agreements for child-support locator data matching
ETA clarified how state unemployment agencies should participate in the federal child-support locator system and negotiate agreements for sharing wage and claim information. It said the model…
Standard threshold shifts for workers with severe hearing loss
A system designer asked how to identify a standard threshold shift for a worker with a very poor baseline audiogram. OSHA said the 10 dB average change at 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 Hz applies…
Title XII advances and obligated Reed Act funds
ETA revised its interpretation of how states calculate the need for a federal Title XII unemployment trust-fund advance. Properly appropriated and obligated Reed Act funds need not first be spent on…
Fall protection during steel connecting work Unknown
A construction safety director asked when steel connectors had to tie off while receiving a piece flown in by crane. OSHA said a connector did not have to tie off during actual receipt, but had to…
Federal computer-matching law and state unemployment records
ETA explained that the 1988 federal computer-matching amendments generally did not cover state-maintained unemployment records or ordinary state-to-state claim matching. The restrictions apply to…
Field sanitation coverage for reforestation work
An OSHA regional office asked whether reforestation work is covered by the field sanitation standard. OSHA said reforestation is covered, including hand seeding, planting, spraying, thinning,…
Recirculating exhaust air in spray operations Unknown
A manufacturer asked whether filtered spray booth exhaust could be recirculated under a newer NFPA standard. OSHA said the described controls could satisfy its de minimis policy if they maintained…
Governmental status of county hospital benefit plans Unknown
A county hospital asked whether its employee welfare plans were excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA found the hospital was a governmental agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision and its…
Separate establishments for injury recordkeeping at one site Unknown
An OSHA regional office asked whether a brewery, bottle plant, can plant, and shared maintenance shop on one site were separate establishments for injury records. OSHA agreed the three plants were…
Performance fees for a plan investment manager Unknown
An investment manager asked whether performance-based fees paid by employee benefit plans would violate ERISA’s prohibited-transaction rules. EBSA said payment under the described agreements would…
HAZWOPER coverage for marine spills and cleanup workers
An employer representative asked how OSHA’s HAZWOPER standard applies to petroleum releases on water, including ship crews, first responders, cleanup contractors, fishermen, and volunteers. OSHA…
Crane requirements for hoisting personnel platforms Unknown
An equipment company asked how OSHA's crane personnel platform rule applied to free fall, boom-angle indicators, and anti-two-blocking devices. OSHA said free fall could not be used while hoisting…
Participant loan access under ERISA’s exemption Unknown
The requester asked whether ERISA’s participant-loan exemption requires loans to participants who are not parties in interest. EBSA said its reasonably equivalent access requirement applies to…
Hiring an affiliated investment manager for a retirement plan Unknown
A retirement plan proposed to hire an investment manager affiliated with its sponsor. EBSA said the service arrangement could qualify for ERISA’s exemption only if its conditions were met, and…
Fiduciary duties in a multiemployer pension-plan merger Unknown
Trustees proposed to merge three multiemployer pension plans. EBSA said fiduciaries must independently assess the merged plan’s funding and long-term viability; a favorable PBGC merger determination…
Performance-based investment management fees Unknown
An investment manager asked whether employee benefit plans could pay it performance-based fees. EBSA said payment under the described agreements would not by itself violate sections 406(b)(1) or…
Employee loans back to a top-hat plan sponsor Unknown
A company asked whether employees could voluntarily loan deferred-compensation distributions back to it without changing the plan’s top-hat character. EBSA said loans on the stated terms would not…
ERISA status of a residential-facilities benefits trust Unknown
A residential-facilities association asked whether its shared employee benefits trust was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA could not confirm that status because association membership was not limited to…
Rabbi trust and unfunded excess-benefit plan status Unknown
A company asked whether its supplemental profit-sharing plan would cease to be unfunded because it used an irrevocable grantor trust. EBSA said the described trust alone would not defeat unfunded…
Oil spill cleanup and post-emergency training Unknown
A petroleum association asked OSHA to allow off-site oil spill cleanup workers to use the training option for a plant's own employees. OSHA said the rule expressly distinguished on-site plant work…
New Hampshire home-builders benefits trust Unknown
A home-builders association asked whether its shared benefits trust was an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said the trust was not such a plan because it was not established or maintained by a qualifying…
HAZWOPER plans for underground storage-tank remediation
An OSHA regional office asked whether contractors assessing and remediating gasoline leaks from underground storage tanks must prepare site-specific HAZWOPER safety and health plans. OSHA said the…
Field sanitation coverage for agricultural hand labor
OSHA revised its interpretation of which agricultural employers are covered by the field sanitation standard. It said coverage applies when an employer had 11 or more field hand-labor workers at any…
Guardrails for shallow floor depressions Unknown
An OSHA regional office asked whether a large floor with a 12-inch depression needed opening guardrails. OSHA said the described area was not a floor opening or hole under the cited rule and that no…
Hazard labels and safety data sheets for orlon yarn
A lawyer asked whether orlon yarn shipped to downstream processors needs hazard labels and material safety data sheets addressing acrylonitrile and dimethylformamide. OSHA said the supplied…
HAZWOPER training for underwater drum-location divers
An employer asked whether divers locating drums underwater during a preliminary site investigation need HAZWOPER training. OSHA said preliminary investigations are part of cleanup, so the standard’s…
HAZWOPER training at waste facilities and incidental spills
A manufacturer asked how HAZWOPER applies to waste facilities and spills in ordinary manufacturing areas. OSHA said regulated treatment, storage, and disposal facilities must provide 24 hours of…
Corrected state-law language for noncitizen unemployment wages
ETA corrected its earlier model state-law language for unemployment claims based on work performed by noncitizens. It said the worker must have been in an eligible immigration category when the…
Citation policy when an OSHA standard is under revision
OSHA answered whether inspectors should cite employers that comply with a proposed or newer consensus standard while the current OSHA standard remains in effect. It said a violation may be…
Hazard communication for silica sand and consumer products in construction
A construction employer asked why common materials such as silica sand require hazard information under OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard. OSHA said workplace exposure can differ from everyday…
Dental plan for federal employee association members Unknown
An association asked whether its dental plan for government employees was covered by ERISA. EBSA said the plan was an ERISA welfare plan and was not a governmental plan because no government entity…
ERISA status of the Tacoma Industrial Trust Unknown
The Tacoma Industrial Trust asked whether it was itself an ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said it was not, but each employer using it for worker benefits had a separate ERISA plan whose administrator had…
Pension trust securities sale to an underwriting syndicate Unknown
A pension trust asked whether selling securities to an underwriting syndicate was a prohibited transaction because a syndicate member was linked to a future corporate acquisition. EBSA said the…
Equal-opportunity data for unemployment claims
ETA told state unemployment agencies to collect and maintain claim, determination, and appeal data by race or ethnicity, sex, age, and disability status for civil-rights monitoring. It also told…
Ionizing radiation areas, radon surveys, and agency jurisdiction
An OSHA training office asked how the ionizing radiation standard treats restricted areas, radon, state programs, and military medical sources. OSHA explained area classifications and when…
HAZWOPER coverage for construction above contaminated groundwater
A lawyer asked whether construction over groundwater containing hazardous waste falls under HAZWOPER when most excavation is not expected to reach the groundwater. OSHA said construction activities…
Controlled lowering on barge cranes hoisting personnel Unknown
A marine contractor sought clarification about a barge crane brake system used to hoist workers. After observing a demonstration, OSHA said the described system met the intent of the controlled…
Permissible deductions from unemployment benefits
ETA said states generally must pay unemployment benefits directly and in full to the eligible claimant, with deductions only where federal law specifically permits or requires them. The letter…
State oversight of a voluntary employee benefits trust Unknown
A benefits trust asked whether it was an ERISA welfare plan and a MEWA. EBSA could not resolve the trust’s ERISA plan status without facts about employer control, but said it appeared to be a MEWA.…
Safety data sheet access at construction jobsites
An OSHA regional office asked where construction employers must keep material safety data sheets and whether paper copies are required. OSHA said sheets must be at the jobsite and readily accessible…
Galveston police retirement plan as a governmental plan Unknown
A police association asked whether the City of Galveston police retirement plan was excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA said the city established and maintained the plan for its police employees,…
Initial capital held before a venture fund’s first investment Unknown
A requester asked whether a new venture fund could treat initial plan contributions as outside plan assets before making its first long-term venture investment. EBSA said it could not yet qualify as…
Transfer restrictions on publicly offered partnership interests Unknown
A securities institute asked whether tax-related transfer limits on partnership interests prevent those interests from being freely transferable under an ERISA plan-assets regulation. EBSA said…
Access to written hazard programs and safety data sheets
A researcher asked how the hazard communication and employee-records standards apply to written programs and material safety data sheets. OSHA said employees or their representatives must receive…
Safety data sheets for diluted chemical products
A manufacturer asked whether diluting a product to working strength requires a new material safety data sheet. OSHA said the chemical manufacturer’s sheet should describe expected downstream uses…
Responsible-party contact information on safety data sheets
A manufacturer asked whether a material safety data sheet may list a contact who can provide only basic product information. OSHA said a listed responsible party must be able to clarify the sheet’s…
HAZWOPER plans, emergency response, training, and marine work
An employer group asked OSHA a series of questions about HAZWOPER cleanup plans, the line between emergency and post-emergency work, worker training, multi-employer sites, and marine operations.…
Hazard warnings on shipped chemical containers
A senator asked OSHA about a constituent’s citation for using in-plant labels on hazardous chemicals shipped to other employers. OSHA said shipped containers need specific hazard warnings, including…
Fall protection for crane personnel platforms over water
A construction company asked about fall protection for employees on a crane personnel platform over water. OSHA said the platform fall-arrest requirement has an over-water exception, while the…
Hazard communication duties for plumbing and HVAC contractors
A plumbing and HVAC contractors’ association asked how OSHA applies the Hazard Communication Standard at construction jobsites and checks employee training. OSHA explained that a workplace can be a…
Better Business Bureau trust and a store’s health plan Unknown
A requester asked whether a business bureau’s insurance trust and a participating store’s health coverage were ERISA plans. EBSA said the trust itself was not an ERISA welfare plan because employers…
Electronic delivery of material safety data sheets
A lawyer asked whether distributors can provide material safety data sheets by microfiche, computer, or fax instead of paper. OSHA said these methods can work if both parties agree, already have the…
Mercury thermometer labels under hazard communication
An OSHA regional office asked whether industrial thermometers require hazard labels under the Hazard Communication Standard. OSHA said thermometers expected to break in normal use and expose…
Free checking tied to IRA investments in bank products Unknown
A bank proposed free personal checking for customers who directed their IRAs to invest at least $2,000 in the bank’s financial products. EBSA said that benefit would be a prohibited transaction…
Grandfathered floor-offset arrangement after plan changes Unknown
A company asked whether merging its defined benefit plans and amending a stock bonus plan to meet ESOP form requirements would end an older floor-offset arrangement’s statutory grandfather…
Hazard labels and lead exposure in soldering
A purchaser asked why U.S. solder shipments carry hazard warning labels and whether solder fumes can harm workers. OSHA explained the Hazard Communication Standard’s labeling and safety data sheet…
Labels for chemical containers in cabinets and drawers
A training company asked whether employers must relabel chemical containers kept on shelves, in cabinets, or in drawers. OSHA said compliant incoming labels need not be replaced, but each movable…
Update to disinfectant guidance for HIV-contaminated surfaces Unknown
OSHA told regional offices it would update its bloodborne exposure enforcement instruction after EPA clarified which antimicrobial products could claim effectiveness against HIV on environmental…
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.