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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Prudent diversification of inherited pension assets Unknown
Incoming pension investment managers asked whether they had to sell loans and properties solely to diversify a portfolio they inherited. The Department said an economically prudent policy of…
Investment managers' duty to remedy later co-fiduciary breaches Unknown
Incoming pension investment managers asked how to address a breach by another fiduciary that occurred after they became fiduciaries. The Department said the described reporting and remedial steps…
Replacement torch tips under welding standards Unknown
A torch-parts maker asked if OSHA approved replacement welding tips. OSHA said it did not certify products in general, but interpreted the welding rule to include replacement tips made to the same…
Electrical work clearance on overhead cranes Unknown
An attorney asked if overhead cranes needed 30 inches of clearance near live electrical parts. OSHA said that minimum did not apply there; an 18-inch footwalk and protection of live parts by…
Medical association benefit program outside ERISA Unknown
Iowa’s insurance department asked whether a medical benefit association was an ERISA welfare plan. The Department said the association was not an employee organization because its members lacked a…
GFCI protection for portable-generator receptacles
A contractor asked whether portable or vehicle-mounted generator receptacles needed ground-fault protection. OSHA said the GFCI option covered qualifying 120-volt, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles in…
Pattern bargaining and Champion pension plan Unknown
Champion Spark Plug asked whether later bargaining for a supplemental retirement benefit related back to a pre-1974 agreement under an ERISA transition rule. The Department said it did on the stated…
When hard hats are required
A worker asked when OSHA required hard hats. OSHA said employers must assess the actual risk of head injury and provide and require protection where that risk exists. Its rules did not require every…
Affirmative action settlement fund outside ERISA Unknown
A canning-industry settlement fund asked whether ERISA covered its discrimination remedies and training. The Department said the training was incidental to the fund’s civil-rights purpose, so it was…
Exhausting heater gases in enclosed construction
A contractor asked about covering and venting a coke-gas heater in an enclosed construction area. OSHA said the cover had to route gases outdoors while keeping exposure within limits and following…
Horsemen association pension plan covered by ERISA Unknown
A horsemen association asked whether a pension plan it maintained was covered by ERISA. The Department said the association acted indirectly for employers in relation to the plan and that Title I…
Sankey toe guards and when foot protection is needed Unknown
A union representative asked about mandatory toe guards at a steel plant. OSHA said Sankey toe caps could provide adequate impact protection, but the employer had to assess where foot hazards…
Transfer of benefit fund surplus to local union Unknown
Fund trustees asked whether they could send accumulated surplus to a local union after ERISA took effect. The Department said the transfer would be a prohibited transaction regardless of when the…
Association disability and accident plans covered by ERISA Unknown
An association asked whether its disability and accidental death plans qualified for ERISA’s voluntary insurance safe harbor. The Department said they did not because the association billed…
Pattern bargaining and Rockford Clutch pension plan Unknown
Rockford Clutch asked whether later bargaining for pension benefits related back to a pre-1974 pattern for an ERISA transition rule. The Department said it did on the represented facts, but did not…
Pattern bargaining and Kelsey-Hayes pension supplements Unknown
Fruehauf Corporation sought an ERISA section 211(c) opinion on Kelsey-Hayes pension supplements negotiated after January 1, 1974. On the represented facts, DOL found the supplement qualified as a…
Borg & Beck pension pattern bargaining Unknown
Borg & Beck asked whether its March 1974 pension bargaining could be treated as relating back to the pre-1974 GM-UAW pattern under ERISA section 211(c). DOL accepted that relation on the represented…
Warner Gear pension pattern bargaining Unknown
Warner Gear asked whether its April 1974 pension bargaining related back to a pre-1974 GM-UAW pattern for ERISA section 211(c). DOL accepted that relation on the represented facts, but found too…
Shell-to-shell spacing of aboveground tanks Unknown
A chemical plant sought a variance from tank spacing requirements. OSHA said the described spacing appeared to pose no employee safety or health effect, so it would treat the deviation as de minimis…
Guardrails and handholds on crane platforms Unknown
An OSHA area office asked whether a crane platform rule set a platform height. The regional technical office said it did not; outside platforms needed standard guardrails, or handholds at convenient…
Teledyne stock tender and the ERISA transition exemption Unknown
DOL found that a Teledyne plan trust could sell its full block of employer stock in a 1976 tender under ERISA section 414(c)(5), including shares received as a nontaxable stock dividend, if the…
Adjustable guard on a radial saw Unknown
A finishing company requested a variance for an adapted radial-saw guard. OSHA said the design appeared to meet the existing rule if properly installed, adjusted, and maintained, so it would take no…
Exit discharge into a yard with street access
A plant asked whether exits could discharge into a wide yard with free access to a public street. OSHA pointed to the rule requiring an exit discharge to lead outside or to a suitable route or open…
Safety sleeves for rotating shaft ends
A manufacturer asked what counted as a safety sleeve for a projecting rotating shaft. OSHA defined it as a durable smooth cover that prevents contact with the shaft and projections. The described…
Steel-angle cleats on fixed ladders Unknown
An engineer asked whether steel angles could serve as cleats on a fixed ladder. OSHA said they did not meet the rule's rectangular cross-section definition and might also allow a worker's hand to…
Protective equipment required by workplace hazards Unknown
A requester asked about required personal protective equipment. OSHA said its rules required equipment where it could prevent a reasonably probable injury, while equipment beyond those requirements…
Fall protection on cotton-gin walkways Unknown
A cotton-ginners' association asked whether high walkways needed fixed railings. OSHA said the general walking-surface rules did not apply to agricultural cotton gins and, where no specific rule…
Wet hard-hat liners and electrical protection
A safety-equipment company asked about a helmet liner. OSHA relayed federal testing that a wet liner worn over the helmet edge removed the electrical insulation of Class A and B helmets. It said the…
Union pension fund loan to an apprenticeship fund Unknown
DOL said a proposed union pension fund loan to a separate apprenticeship fund did not appear to involve a party in interest under ERISA section 406(a). Section 406(b)(2) could still bar the loan if…
Backhoe swing-radius barricades Unknown
A contractors' association asked whether crane swing-radius barricade requirements applied to backhoes. A regional OSHA office said the same hazard existed where an excavating machine could also be…
Plan trustee serving on its custodial bank board Unknown
DOL said a plan trustee was not automatically barred from also serving as a director of the bank that provided the plans custodial services. Specific dealings could still violate ERISA section…
Insurance funded Keogh plans covering common law employees Unknown
DOL concluded that an employer's adoption of this insured Keogh prototype would produce a plan covered by ERISA Title I if it included common law employees. Insurance contracts guaranteed benefits…
Outdoor weather apparel and protective equipment Unknown
A requester asked whether employers had to provide outdoor or bad-weather clothing. A regional OSHA office said no rule specifically named that apparel, but protective clothing had to be used when…
Employer health premiums paid with secured promissory note Unknown
An insurer asked whether employers could pay part of a group health premium with a demand note secured by a bank letter of credit. The Department said this was not a prohibited transaction when…
Investment adviser serving a plan and related clients Unknown
DOL and IRS said that, if the proposed ownership, board and payment changes were made, an investment adviser would not cause a prohibited transaction merely by serving other clients related to the…
IUE and Chrysler pension bargaining changes Unknown
DOL concluded that the IUE and Chrysler’s 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions. It…
IUE and General Motors pension bargaining changes Unknown
DOL concluded that the IUE and General Motors’ 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions.…
UPGWA and Chrysler pension bargaining changes Unknown
DOL concluded that the UPGWA and Chrysler’s 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions. It…
Protective footwear for freight handlers Unknown
Freight handlers challenged a decision on their employer's footwear citation. OSHA said their foot and ankle injury record showed exposure requiring suitable protection under its PPE rule, and that…
UAW and Chrysler pension bargaining changes Unknown
DOL concluded that the UAW and Chrysler’s 1976 changes to age-65, survivor, limited-group service-credit and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA…
UAW and General Motors pension bargaining changes Unknown
DOL concluded that the UAW and General Motors’ 1976 changes to age-65, survivor and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate their 1973 retirement agreement for the ERISA transition provisions.…
Foundry pension changes and the 1973 agreement Unknown
DOL concluded that narrow 1976 changes to age-65, survivor, foundry-service and retiree lump-sum benefits did not terminate the represented 1973 retirement agreement for ERISA transition provisions.…
Insulated spreader bars during battery charging Unknown
A battery service company asked about materials for equipment used to lift storage batteries. An OSHA regional office said the rule required suitable handling equipment and addressed nonsparking…
Proof testing special alloy-chain lifting devices
A manufacturer asked how to proof test a custom alloy-chain lifting device. OSHA said the general-industry sling provision did not address special devices whose strength depended on other…
Tree trimming near energized power lines Unknown
An OSHA region asked when tree trimmers using insulated aerial lifts could work within ten feet of power lines. OSHA said line-clearance work generally could, while other tree trimming generally…
Footwear rules and OSHA jurisdiction at a freight terminal Unknown
A congressman relayed freight handlers' questions about required safety shoes. OSHA said warehouse foot injury exposure justified protective footwear, and the federal motor-carrier agency did not…
Tucson Gas apprenticeship program as ERISA welfare plan Unknown
A utility asked whether its union apprenticeship program was an ERISA welfare plan or excluded payroll practice. The Department said it was a welfare plan because the program paid for training costs…
Employee stock purchase plan outside ERISA Unknown
A utility’s employee stock purchase plan let participants buy discounted company shares and sell them at any time. DOL concluded that it provided neither welfare benefits nor retirement income or…
Dentist’s benefit plan and interstate commerce Unknown
DOL said a dentist’s employee benefit plan was within ERISA’s interstate-commerce coverage where the practice used equipment, drugs and other materials moving in commerce. Operating in one state and…
Book value employer shares in a profit sharing plan Unknown
DOL found that proposed book value employer shares were qualifying employer securities and the profit sharing plan was an eligible individual account plan. Purchases and sales could use the ERISA…
Testing-laboratory approval for assembled GFCIs Unknown
A tool-repair company asked whether it could assemble ground-fault interrupters from approved components. A regional OSHA office said the completed device still needed evaluation by an acceptable…
Permanent billboard platforms versus scaffolds Unknown
A billboard association asked how OSHA classified walking decks attached to billboards. OSHA said a permanent platform fixed to a structure should not be called a temporary scaffold, while the…
Three-foot clearance around spray booths
A safety consultant asked where OSHA’s three-foot clearance for spray booths applied. OSHA said the requirement to keep the area free from storage and combustible construction referred to the…
Climbing structural members of towers and tanks Unknown
A tank company asked for clarification on how workers could climb towers and tanks. A regional OSHA office said climbing structural members was a recognized fall hazard and that noncompliant ladders…
Rollover protection for newer construction machines
An OSHA construction-standards office clarified which rollover-protection criteria applied to newer machines. It said criteria meant for pre-September 1972 machines should not be used for current…
Oregon experience-rating conformity decision
ETA explained why Oregon’s special noncharging treatment for food processors failed the FUTA experience-rating requirement that employers be charged by the same rule over the same period. The letter…
Recoupment and information requests across union trust funds Unknown
DOL said a fund might prudently offset future benefits to recover its own mistaken payment after reasonable collection efforts, but could not deny more benefits than the debt. If necessary…
Overpayment recovery among three union benefit funds Unknown
DOL said a fund might prudently offset future benefits to recover its own mistaken payment after reasonable collection efforts, but could not deny more benefits than the debt. A fund could delay…
Recoupment of pension benefit overpayments Unknown
DOL said plan fiduciaries should prudently try to recover mistaken benefit payments, but the method depends on the facts. Recovery from the administrator could remove the need to seek repayment from…
Overpayment recovery among related union benefit funds Unknown
DOL said a fund might prudently offset future benefits to recover its own mistaken payment after reasonable collection efforts, but could not deny more benefits than the debt. A fund was required to…
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.
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- 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.