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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Wet-well pump motors in hazardous locations
A pump maker asked whether a wastewater wet well should be treated as a Class I, Division 1 hazardous location. OSHA said the specified motor type is required if flammable gas concentrations may…
Fall protection on unfinished building floors Unknown
An attorney asked how the open-sided floor rule applied to unfinished building floors. OSHA said a floor that would later be covered by another level remained subject to the guardrail rule, unlike…
Insulating hydraulic tools for power-line work
A lawyer asked what OSHA meant by insulating fluid and nonconducting hoses in electric-line construction. OSHA said the fluid must not conduct electricity and the hose must meet the cited ANSI…
Head Start staff and between-term benefit denials
ETA explained that a school board’s Head Start staff may face the between-term benefit denial when the program is an integral part of the school system and the workers are school employees. The…
Pipe opening protection with a toeboard Unknown
An engineering company asked whether a pipe opening with a four-inch toeboard met OSHA's floor-hole rule. OSHA said the submitted design deviated technically from the rule but gave equivalent…
Compressed-air pressure for cleaning
A bakery asked how OSHA’s compressed-air cleaning instruction applied to its equipment. OSHA said the static pressure at a dead-ended exit orifice must stay below 30 psi; the instruction imposed no…
Measuring electrical panel work space Unknown
A company asked whether an electrical panel placed 30 inches from a conveyor met the work-space rule. OSHA said the cited electrical code measured the distance from the front of an enclosed panel,…
Power-actuated fastening into ductile cast iron
An employer sought a variance to drive power-actuated fasteners into ductile cast-iron ingot molds. OSHA found its documented operation appeared to qualify as a de minimis violation under the cited…
Audible backup alarms and off-highway trucks
A state transportation agency asked about construction-vehicle requirements. OSHA said an alarm must be distinguishable from surrounding noise, and off-highway trucks used at construction sites must…
Hawaii prepaid legal service provider outside ERISA plan status Unknown
A prepaid legal service provider asked whether its program was itself an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the private provider was controlled by neither an employer nor an employee…
Convertible employer debentures outside qualifying stock Unknown
An employee stock ownership plan asked whether convertible company debentures counted as qualifying employer stock under ERISA. The Department said debt was not stock merely because it could later…
Strength and edge protection for steel-band guardrails Unknown
An OSHA official asked when steel banding could serve as a guardrail. The response said band edges needed protection and the system had to withstand a 200-pound load with no more than three inches…
Welfare fund director compensation while serving as trustee Unknown
A welfare fund asked whether its director could be paid while also serving as a trustee and receiving part time union pay. The Department said the dual role and fund salary could be permissible if…
Western Employers and Employees Security Trust outside one ERISA plan Unknown
A benefits trust asked whether it was a single ERISA welfare plan for many small employers. The Department found that unrelated employers had not jointly controlled or established it, so the trust…
Maritime severance program outside ERISA pension plan status Unknown
The request concerned whether a maritime health and benefit plan’s temporary severance program was an ERISA pension plan. Based on the information and assumptions in the request, the Department said…
Louisville police sick and death benefit fund under ERISA Unknown
An inquiry asked whether a Louisville police benefit corporation was covered by ERISA or excluded as a governmental plan. The Department said its member run sick and death benefits were an ERISA…
Manila rope strength for lifelines
A contractors’ association asked whether a lower-strength manila rope could serve as a lifeline. OSHA said the cited rule required at least 5,400 pounds of breaking strength, so a 4,860-pound rope…
Utility Trailer dealer stock options and ERISA party status Unknown
A truck trailer manufacturer asked whether unexercised options to acquire control of dealers made those dealers parties in interest to its profit sharing plan. The Department said the options alone…
Retirement supplement plan debentures as marketable obligations Unknown
A retirement plan sought opinions on its plan type and on debentures it had purchased. The Department deferred the plan type question during rulemaking but said the specifically described debentures…
Public employer and union welfare trusts as governmental plans Unknown
After trustees withdrew an advisory opinion request amid litigation, the Department published its view on four welfare trusts jointly bargained by Teamsters Local 237 and public employers. It said…
Flammable varnish dip tanks and curing ovens Unknown
An OSHA area-office memo discussed flammable varnishes used in motor-coating dip tanks and curing ovens. It identified potential inspection issues involving added solvents, overflow, ignition…
Strike-related benefits after New York Telephone
ETA explained that the Supreme Court left states free to authorize unemployment benefits for strikers after a suspension period; the ruling did not require other states to change their labor-dispute…
Pneumatic drop hammers in hot and cold forging
A state safety official asked whether the safety-cylinder-head rule covered a pneumatic drop hammer. OSHA said the cited provision applied to pneumatic drop hammers used in hot forging, while…
Trenching near a raised soil bank Unknown
A state safety official asked how OSHA's trenching rules applied beside a raised soil bank. OSHA said an inspector observing the described trench and bank conditions could cite separate requirements…
Massachusetts plan specific criminal law under ERISA preemption Unknown
A requester asked whether Massachusetts criminal penalties aimed specifically at welfare and pension funds survived ERISA preemption. The Department said the generally applicable criminal law…
Smooth surfaces on sectionalized rail systems Unknown
A construction company asked whether sectionalized rail systems met OSHA's smooth top-rail requirement. OSHA said the submitted designs appeared to meet it if their surfaces had no projections or…
Somerset Club benefit fund under ERISA Unknown
A social club asked whether its Bradlee and Sprague funds, treated together as one benefit fund, were outside ERISA. The Department said the combined fund was an ERISA welfare plan because it…
Santa Fe employee stock ownership plan as an ERISA pension plan Unknown
An employer asked whether its employee stock ownership plan was an ERISA benefit plan. The plan delayed withdrawals until termination or eight years after contribution, whichever came first, and the…
C and O railroad hospital association under ERISA Unknown
A railroad hospital association asked whether its benefit program was an ERISA welfare plan and whether its assets could avoid ERISA’s trust requirement. The Department said COEHA, jointly…
Washington proposal on insurer assumption of ERISA plan obligations Unknown
A Washington legislative committee asked whether a proposal requiring insurance commissioner approval before an insurer assumed an ERISA welfare plan’s obligations was preempted. The Department said…
California unclaimed benefit distributions and ERISA preemption Unknown
A requester asked whether California could take custody of unclaimed distributions from ERISA benefit trusts after seven years. The Department said the state unclaimed property law was preempted to…
Guarding pneumatic staplers
A manufacturer asked which OSHA rules applied to a pneumatic stapler. OSHA identified portable-tool and point-of-operation guarding provisions in general industry, construction pneumatic-tool rules…
Insurance separate account purchases under ERISA exemptions Unknown
Several insurers asked whether plans could purchase pooled separate account interests and other insurance contracts from an insurer that was a party in interest. The Department said statutory…
Pennsylvania Enterprises plan employer stock divestiture amount Unknown
A pension plan asked how much employer stock it still had to divest by December 31, 1979. Using the plan’s stated valuation date and values, and assuming no employer real property was held on…
Southeastern Life stock and Blount retirement trust limits Unknown
A retirement trust asked whether stock of a wholly owned insurer counted as employer securities and when the plan had to meet ERISA’s 10 percent limit. The Department lacked facts to decide the…
Secured Oregon scaffold versus prohibited lean-to scaffold Unknown
An OSHA region asked whether a modified Oregon scaffold was prohibited as a lean-to scaffold. OSHA said the proposed scaffold, if secured to the structure and meeting applicable general…
Prudential separate accounts and prohibited transaction exemptions Unknown
A request submitted for Mr. Powell asked whether a plan's purchase of interests in Prudential insurance accounts would be a prohibited transaction when Prudential was a party in interest. The…
Co-operative bank retirement plan term deposits Unknown
A retirement program asked whether deposits at participating co-operative banks were prohibited transactions. The Department said the deposits qualified for an ERISA exemption through October 31,…
Rollover protection for skid-steer loaders Unknown
An OSHA region asked how to cite skid-steer loaders without rollover protective structures where a specific standard had been reserved. OSHA said operators faced a recognized serious hazard in the…
Skid-steer loaders without rollover protection Unknown
An OSHA memorandum addressed rubber-tired skid-steer loaders without rollover protective structures. It directed staff to cite the general duty clause for specified heavier four-wheel-drive machines…
Mechanics Savings Bank supplemental retiree payments Unknown
A bank asked whether discretionary payments to retirees from its general assets formed an ERISA pension plan. The Department said the cited no-participants regulation did not resolve the question…
California Casualty plan sale of employer stock Unknown
A savings plan proposed selling stock of a related life insurer to the employer sponsoring the plan. The Department said the sale was ordinarily prohibited but could qualify for the employer…
V.I.B.A. insurance trust outside ERISA plan status Unknown
The request asked whether the V.I.B.A. Trust itself was an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the trust and its administrator were neither an employer nor an employee organization under the…
Retracting-reel lifelines below the stated strength
A manufacturer asked whether two retracting-reel lifelines met OSHA’s construction lifeline rule. OSHA said their 4,000- and 3,000-pound breaking strengths failed the 5,400-pound requirement. It…
Rollover protection and brakes on an excavator
A manufacturer asked whether a small excavator with a dozer blade needed rollover protection. OSHA said its construction ROPS rule did not require it for that machine at the time. It also identified…
Sampling for flammable vapors in spray areas
An OSHA memorandum clarified when inspectors needed lower-explosive-limit sampling before citing spray-finishing requirements. Documented organic-peroxide spraying or flammable materials inside a…
Travel agents incentive compensation plan and ERISA coverage Unknown
An employer asked whether its proposed service based incentive compensation plan was an ERISA benefit plan. The Department said it was not a welfare plan and, by its terms, did not appear to be a…
Local 945 severance and welfare funds covered by ERISA Unknown
An inquiry asked whether two Local 945 Teamsters funds were covered by ERISA and the earlier federal disclosure law. After examining the funds and union, the Department concluded both the severance…
Goodyear Relief Association welfare plan status Unknown
An employee association asked whether its supplemental medical benefits program was an ERISA welfare plan. The Department concluded the association qualified as an employees’ beneficiary association…
Operating Engineers vacation and holiday pay fund Unknown
A collectively bargained vacation and holiday pay fund asked whether it was an ERISA welfare plan or merely a payroll savings arrangement. The Department said employer contributions funded vacation…
Tri-State Carpenters death fund appeared covered by ERISA Unknown
A union death benefit fund asked whether its voluntary member assessments created an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the expected death payment was more than a small remembrance gift, so the…
Betz employee stock incentive plan and ERISA coverage Unknown
An employer asked whether a restricted stock incentive plan for selected employees was an ERISA benefit plan. The Department said the plan was not a welfare plan and was not a pension plan by its…
Apprenticeship fund status after consent decree Unknown
An apprenticeship and training fund asked whether changes made under a discrimination consent decree removed it from ERISA coverage. The Department said the fund remained an ERISA welfare plan…
OSHA jurisdiction inside a nuclear containment facility
A nuclear facility sought a variance from OSHA’s supplied-air respirator air-quality rule. OSHA said NRC regulation generally covered the primarily radiological conditions inside the containment…
Longshoremen vacation account covered as welfare plan Unknown
A collectively bargained vacation account asked whether its payments were an excluded payroll practice. The Department said the account was an ERISA welfare plan: vacation pay came from a separate…
O’s Gold plan sale of employer stock Unknown
A terminating profit sharing plan proposed selling its employer stock back to the employer. The Department said the stock qualified as employer securities and the sale could be exempt if the plan…
South Mississippi health agency pension plan start date Unknown
A health agency asked when its pension plan began and whether a 1977 document change created a new plan. The Department said a plan existed for ERISA title I as of January 1, 1975. It declined a…
Irving Trust securities lending fees and fiduciary self dealing Unknown
A bank trustee proposed lending plan securities and charging fees tied to the value and duration of the loans. The Department said the services exemption did not excuse fiduciary self dealing and…
Pacer plan deposit programs and savings associations Unknown
Two savings associations asked whether accepting deposits for Pacer retirement programs made them ERISA fiduciaries, parties in interest, or bonded plan officials. The Department said the described…
Time optional retirement program and pension plan status Unknown
An employer asked whether its current and revised optional early retirement program was outside ERISA pension plan coverage. The Department said neither version met the severance pay or supplemental…
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.