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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Decomposition products on material safety data sheets
An OSHA regional office asked when decomposition products belong on a material safety data sheet. OSHA said hazardous products formed during normal operations, such as hot-wire cutting, must be…
PRUCOL alien status and unemployment eligibility
ETA gave additional interpretation of aliens permanently residing under color of law for unemployment benefit eligibility under FUTA. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Labels for hazardous chemicals moved between company plants
A company asked whether chemicals sent from one of its plants to another require hazard labels. OSHA said hazardous chemicals moved between company facilities must be labeled, regardless of whether…
Safety data sheet duties for healthcare wholesalers
A lawyer asked whether a healthcare-products distributor could use the retail rule that provides material safety data sheets only on request. OSHA said the company’s sales to hospitals, clinics, and…
ERISA preemption of proposed Utah pharmacy restrictions Unknown
Utah asked whether proposed restrictions on third-party purchasers of prescription drugs could govern ERISA plans. EBSA said the proposal would be preempted insofar as it applied to covered employee…
Inspection of rubber insulating equipment for electrical work
An electric utility asked which ANSI standards govern rubber protective equipment and how it must be inspected during use. OSHA listed the manufacturing standards for gloves, matting, blankets,…
Silica bound in rubber under hazard communication
A manufacturer asked whether crystalline silica bound in silicone rubber must appear on a material safety data sheet. OSHA said a hazardous ingredient is outside the standard if it cannot expose…
Former field sanitation worker-count interpretation Rescinded
OSHA once advised its regional offices how to count agricultural hand-labor workers for field sanitation coverage. The agency expressly rescinded this February 6 memo in its September 5, 1989…
Concrete and masonry limited access zones
OSHA responded to questions about its concrete and masonry construction standard, 29 CFR 1926.706. The memorandum addressed who must establish a limited access zone, when employers may be cited, how…
Unemployment insurance quality-control questions and answers, Change 3 Unknown
ETA answered state agencies' questions about unemployment insurance quality-control investigations and coding. It addressed how to verify claims and wages, conduct interviews, and record findings…
Hazard communication for portland cement
An employer asked why portland cement came with a material safety data sheet. OSHA said the cement maker identified eye and skin irritation hazards, so employers whose workers are exposed must make…
Distributor charges for material safety data sheets
A supplier association asked whether distributors may charge customers for material safety data sheets. OSHA said the rule does not bar charges before a hazardous chemical is shipped, but sheets…
Distributor responsibility for safety data sheet delivery
A veterinary distributors’ association asked whether a proposed system for sending material safety data sheets to downstream customers would satisfy OSHA’s rule. OSHA said the plan appeared capable…
Who may inspect bakery ovens
A member of Congress asked whether an outside professional could inspect bakery ovens for several employers. OSHA said ovens require twice-monthly inspections by an appointed, instructed bakery…
1988 family-support and housing amendments to unemployment data sharing
ETA explained how 1988 federal amendments affected state unemployment agencies' sharing of wage and claim information. The letter and its two interpretation attachments address child-support…
IRA loan to a corporation linked to its owner Unknown
An IRA owner proposed lending account funds to a corporation in which he had an ownership interest. EBSA said the company was not a disqualified person solely through the specified employer or…
Diesel fuel exhaust under hazard communication rules Unknown
A trucking association asked whether diesel exhaust fell under OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA said exhaust alone was not a covered chemical, but diesel fuel was, and known combustion hazards…
Union input on pension investment choices Unknown
A company and union proposed a committee to suggest communities for residential mortgage investments and nonprofit debt opportunities. Separately, the union could recommend avoiding investments in…
ERISA preemption of Puerto Rico plan-funding limits Unknown
A requester asked whether Puerto Rico Act 17 could regulate how ERISA plans are funded through payroll deductions. EBSA said section 5 was preempted to the extent interpreted to limit, prohibit, or…
Seat belt anchorage on off-highway construction vehicles Unknown
A construction employer asked how seat and seat belt anchorage provisions applied to off-highway jobsite vehicles. OSHA said the anchorage requirement was independent of the rule about firmly…
County hospital pension plan as a governmental plan Unknown
A county hospital asked whether its defined benefit pension plan was covered by ERISA Title I. The Department found the hospital to be a governmental agency or instrumentality and its plan a…
Eligibility of certain noncitizens for unemployment benefits Unknown
ETA explained how work authorization and temporary resident status under federal immigration law affect unemployment eligibility. It distinguished availability for work from use of base-period…
Live booms and controlled lowering when hoisting workers Unknown
A crane manufacturer asked about the personnel platform rule's live boom prohibition and controlled lowering requirement. OSHA said a boom lowered only by its brake was prohibited, while the load…
Hazard communication training for stevedores handling sealed cargo
A maritime employer asked OSHA to exempt stevedores who handle trailers carrying sealed hazardous cargo from hazard communication training. OSHA said the trailers count as sealed containers, so…
Fall protection for cable television ladder work Unknown
A cable television company asked about fall protection during service work from ladders. OSHA said employees working directly from a ladder more than four feet above ground had to use a safety belt…
Weighing outbound vehicle containers at marine terminals Unknown
A marine terminal asked whether closed containers carrying only vehicles qualified for a weighing exemption. OSHA said the cited rule exempted only open-type vehicle carrying containers, although it…
Hot-water capacity in temporary labor camps
An agency office asked what an adequate hot-water supply means under OSHA’s temporary labor camp rule. OSHA said capacity depends on the number of occupants and gave minimum recovery and storage…
Hazard labels on vehicles and workplace machines
A paper company asked whether lift trucks and machines containing hazardous chemicals need container labels. OSHA said vehicles and machine components are generally not containers under the Hazard…
Safety monitors on low-pitch roofing work Unknown
An OSHA regional office asked when a safety monitor could replace a physical fall protection system. OSHA said the then-current exception was limited to built-up roofing on low-pitch roof…
Volunteers for religious/charitable organizations aren't employees, but paid staff get no religious-organization minimum-wage exemption
A Christian Science church group asked DLSE how the Industrial Welfare Commission Orders apply to employees of church offices and attendants in Reading Rooms. DLSE explained there is no minimum-wage…
Special trucks for moving compressed-gas cylinders
A safety-cap maker asked what OSHA means by a special truck for moving compressed-gas cylinders and whether its cap could replace one. OSHA said a special truck is a cart or vehicle that stably…
Appeal rights for ETA federal-assistance grantees Rescinded
ETA told federal-assistance grantees how to appeal a final audit determination when no statute or regulation established another appeal process. For those grants, ETA selected a hearing before the…
Alarm devices versus automatic anti-two-blocking protection Unknown
A contractors' association asked whether alarms could satisfy the crane personnel platform anti-two-blocking requirement. OSHA said alarms depended too heavily on operator reaction time and did not…
Annual bakery-oven inspections by a qualified burner company
A burner company asked whether its personnel could conduct required annual inspections of bakery ovens at customer sites. OSHA said qualified representatives of an oven manufacturer who know the…
Child care assistance for unemployment claimants Unknown
ETA encouraged state unemployment offices to help claimants with child care responsibilities by providing relevant information and assistance. Current status is unconfirmed.
State waivers for SAVE unemployment eligibility verification
ETA decided which state unemployment agencies could avoid the automated part of the SAVE immigration-status verification program in 1988. Six states received waivers and three did not; every state…
Revised alien wage-credit interpretation
ETA revised its interpretation of when certain lawfully admitted temporary residents’ prior wages may count toward unemployment monetary eligibility. ETA still lists the letter as continuing.
Transfer of assets in a welfare-plan merger Unknown
A plan administrator proposed merging an employer's disability and medical plans and moving related assets and liabilities into the merged plan. EBSA said that transfer alone would not violate the…
Crystalline silica carcinogenicity warnings under hazard communication
A stone-industry group asked OSHA to say crystalline silica should not be treated as a carcinogen for hazard communication. OSHA denied the request, citing scientific evidence and the standard’s…
Taut rope and chain guardrails on shipyard scaffolds Unknown
A shipbuilding association challenged OSHA's meaning of taut for rope or chain scaffold guardrails. OSHA disagreed and said guardrails meeting the criteria in its cited directive were taut under the…
Trustee compensation from pension and welfare plans Unknown
A requester writing for two plans asked whether a trustee could receive compensation from them while receiving full-time pay from a construction company. EBSA said the company’s ties did not bar…
Per-procedure pay to dialysis nurses is piece-rate work, not sales commissions, so it doesn't qualify for the commissioned-employee overtime exemption
Following up on 1984 and 1986 letters that had treated a client's dialysis nurses as commissioned employees exempt from overtime, an attorney asked DLSE to confirm that view still held. DLSE…
Public school money-purchase plan as governmental Unknown
A school system asked whether its money-purchase retirement plan was covered by ERISA Title I. EBSA said the plan was established and maintained by a Virginia public school agency for its employees…
Bank trustee investment in premium-fee common funds Unknown
A bank asked whether plan assets could enter common trust funds with premium fees under an arrangement approved by independent plan decision-makers. EBSA said investment under the stated safeguards…
Hazard communication exemption for waste samples sent to a lab
A safety consultant asked whether hazardous-waste samples sent to a lab for analysis lose their Hazard Communication Standard exemption. OSHA said samples sent as part of disposal preparation remain…
Dependent-care reimbursements and ERISA welfare-plan status Unknown
An employer paid or reimbursed workers for child care of their choice without sponsoring a specific center. EBSA said the program did not provide the type of benefit listed in ERISA section 3(1) and…
A vacation-accrual schedule that decreases in year two is not a reasonable acceleration policy under Suastez
Counsel for an employer asked DLSE to clarify a 1986 Interpretive Bulletin on vacation pay, describing a plan with no vacation accrual for the first 90 days, one week of vacation at the end of year…
Deadline to replace open-tip standpipe hose nozzles
A fire-protection company asked when open-tip nozzles on standpipe hose had to be replaced with shut-off nozzles. OSHA clarified that the deadline was by July 1, 1981, rather than sometime after…
Reasonableness of a one-year vacation-accrual cap under Interpretive Bulletin 86-3
An attorney asked DLSE whether a one-year ceiling on vacation accrual would be a reasonable "use it or lose it" cap under Interpretive Bulletin 86-3. DLSE explained that caps on vacation accrual are…
Proof testing of synthetic web slings
An OSHA regional office asked whether a contractor could repeatedly proof test synthetic web slings above their rated load. OSHA said proof testing and certification generally belong to the…
Interim enforcement of hazard communication outside construction Unknown
OSHA told regional administrators how a court stay affected enforcement of the expanded Hazard Communication Standard in 1988. It said the stay applied to construction employers, while other…
Monthly bonus payments and how to calculate the overtime due on bonus pay
A retailer's regional personnel attorney asked DLSE whether a bonus can be paid on a monthly basis under Labor Code § 204. DLSE confirmed a bonus may be paid monthly if the plan defines it as earned…
Employee access to safety data sheets and written hazard programs
An employer asked whether it must provide employees’ representatives with safety data sheets and the written hazard communication program. OSHA said the first request for an exposure record must be…
Qualifications for hazardous waste safety trainers Unknown
A health services manager asked what qualifications instructors needed for interim HAZWOPER training. OSHA said the rule set no fixed degree or credential; instructors needed training at a higher…
Training for low-exposure hazardous waste site workers Unknown
A waste site services firm asked whether employees who did not disturb hazardous materials needed HAZWOPER training. OSHA said workers neither exposed nor potentially exposed did not need the cited…
Avoiding unsupported target-organ warnings on labels
An OSHA regional office asked whether a manufacturer could use the same broad list of target-organ hazards on every product in a line. OSHA said each listed hazard must be demonstrated by at least…
Direct-reading instruments and objective data at waste sites Unknown
A cleanup firm asked whether direct-reading instruments and objective data could satisfy interim HAZWOPER monitoring rules. OSHA accepted direct-reading tools for initial characterization if they…
Confidentiality and retention of occupational medical records
A lawyer asked how an employer can retain required employee medical records without learning unrelated medical details. OSHA said non-healthcare managers receive only occupationally relevant…
Overtime on commissions paid alongside an hourly wage, and the semi-monthly payday rule for earned commissions
A payroll processor asked DLSE how to calculate overtime for an employee paid an hourly rate plus commissions. DLSE gave a worked example: divide commissions earned in the workweek by hours worked…
Carcinogen labels for IARC category 2B chemicals
A company asked whether chemicals classified by IARC as category 2B always need a cancer warning on their labels. OSHA said all relevant hazards belong on the material safety data sheet, but label…
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.