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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Plan sale of subsidiary stock to sponsoring employer Unknown
DOL concluded that a profit sharing plan’s shares in two companies were not qualifying employer securities before a proposed sale to the sponsoring employer. The companies were not yet affiliates of…
Solid-fuel salamanders during concrete curing
A construction-employer group sought a variance for solid-fuel heaters used during concrete curing. OSHA said the ban targeted open, spark-producing units in buildings or on scaffolds, not properly…
Insurance commissions paid to a plan sponsor’s sibling Unknown
DOL said the brother of a sponsoring company’s president was not a party in interest solely because of that sibling relationship, since ERISA’s listed family relationships did not include siblings.…
Delinquent contributions to multiemployer plans Unknown
DOL said an employer’s failure to make a required contribution to a multiemployer plan was not, by itself, a prohibited transaction. A prohibited transaction could arise from an unreasonable…
Vinyl-chloride releases and protective equipment
A materials company asked what counted as a massive vinyl-chloride release and when protective gear was needed. OSHA described visible pressurized gas, spray, cloud, or ice-clump conditions rather…
Union and welfare plans jointly purchasing forms Unknown
DOL concluded that three welfare plans and a related union could jointly buy application cards without a section 406(a) prohibited transaction when the union paid half and the plans shared the…
Employee stock ownership trust buying insider shares Unknown
DOL said proposed sales of employer stock by two company directors to an employee stock ownership trust could qualify for ERISA section 408(e) if the plan met the individual-account or section 407…
Employer-paid IRA fees and ERISA plan status Unknown
DOL said an employer’s payment of a monthly administrative fee for workers’ group IRAs would endorse the program, removing the regulatory safe harbor and making it an ERISA pension plan. It…
Employees’ association disability and life benefits Unknown
An employees’ association provided disability time-loss and group life insurance benefits to dues-paying members. DOL found its programs were ERISA welfare benefit plans maintained by an employee…
Shell Oil severance program reporting duties Unknown
DOL treated Shell Oil’s short-term lump-sum severance program as a welfare plan rather than a pension plan under its then-current severance guidance. It said the plan was subject to ERISA Title I…
Family relationship and marketable employer obligations Unknown
DOL concluded that a former chief executive was not independent of a debenture issuer for ERISA section 407 because his son was the issuer’s current chief executive. DOL did not determine whether…
Annual bonus pool outside ERISA pension rules Unknown
DOL found that the described incentive compensation trust paid each pool’s net income to participating employees soon after each calendar year. Because the amounts were work bonuses rather than…
Guarding comfort fans and exposed drive belts Unknown
An equipment maker asked which fan-guard and belt-guard rules applied. OSHA said the specific fan-blade provision concerned comfort-cooling fans, while fans inside larger units still needed guarding…
Small remembrances and gifts outside ERISA welfare plans Unknown
Duncan Welfare Fund described flowers, sickness gifts, grocery or clothing aid, Christmas baskets and charitable contributions. DOL found the described program fell within the regulatory exclusion…
Withdrawal of belt-loader handrail opinion
An airline was told OSHA had withdrawn an earlier opinion on mobile aircraft belt-loader handrails. OSHA said no specific standard covered the described condition, but a recognized serious fall…
Emergency exits from steam tunnels Unknown
A state facilities office asked whether steam tunnels needed emergency exits. OSHA said a steam tunnel counted as a structure and needed enough means of escape for workers, giving a parallel…
Placement of long-span trusses in steel erection Superseded
A steel-construction association asked how structural-member placement rules applied to long-span trusses. OSHA agreed with the described placement method for members on opposite sides of a common…
Restaurant properties as qualifying employer real property Unknown
DOL said three proposed restaurant properties would meet ERISA’s geographic dispersion and alternative use conditions if the plan’s stated facts were correct. It declined to decide whether the…
Teachers’ charitable relief fund outside ERISA Unknown
DOL found that the Mary Muldoon Fund’s charitable aid to needy members of a teachers’ organization was neither an ERISA welfare plan nor a pension plan. Its financial-hardship benefit was outside…
Colored illumination for exit signs Unknown
A telephone company asked whether OSHA had deleted the colored-light requirement for exit signs. A regional OSHA office said the proposal had not changed the rule, so externally illuminated signs…
GFCIs and emergency venting for flammable liquids Unknown
An insurance representative asked about construction ground-fault protection and flammable-liquid venting. A regional OSHA office described the GFCI or testing-program options and explained how…
Split dollar life insurance and stock purchase plans Unknown
DOL classified the employer’s split dollar life insurance arrangement as an ERISA welfare plan, described how its Social Security offset pension plan could state accrued benefits, and found its…
Marking aisles on dirt or dusty floors Unknown
An OSHA office asked how to mark aisles when dirt, sand, or dust made painted lines impractical. OSHA said the rule allowed other visible methods, such as marked pillars, cones, flags, or barrels,…
Fiberglass crude-oil tanks at isolated wellheads Unknown
An OSHA region asked whether fiberglass tanks could be used to store crude oil at wellheads. OSHA said tanks in isolated rural areas meeting the 1973 NFPA code could be accepted as de minimis…
Discretionary IRA bonuses paid to employees Unknown
DOL found that an employer’s discretionary bonus paid to employees, who then deposited it into their own IRAs, did not make the described IRA program an ERISA pension plan. The employer’s…
Employer-funded IRA bonus program under ERISA Unknown
DOL found that Union Springs Telephone’s bonus payments deposited directly into employees’ IRAs provided retirement income and involved employer contributions, so the program was an ERISA pension…
Rockwell pension pattern bargaining after 1973 Unknown
Rockwell asked whether its 1974 pension supplement and bargaining history met ERISA section 211(c). DOL treated the later patterned bargaining as relating back to the pre-1974 agreement on the…
Elevator-room signs and double-insulated tools
An elevator company asked about maintenance-room signs and construction ground-fault protection. OSHA said its sign arrangement met the cited requirement but unauthorized access remained a problem.…
Typographical correction to power-press safeguarding rule Unknown
OSHA told its regional offices that typographical errors in the power-press safeguarding rule had caused confusion. It identified the comma and word changes needed to clarify the list of…
Small employer hospital benefit plan under ERISA Unknown
DOL classified an employer-funded hospital benefit program covering four employees as an ERISA welfare plan subject to Title I reporting, fiduciary and enforcement provisions. It pointed to a…
Union and employer severance funds under ERISA Unknown
DOL said the proposed company-by-company severance payment funds appeared outside the ERISA pension plan definition under its then-current severance guidance, but were ERISA welfare plans because…
Concurrent two-hand power-press controls Unknown
A press maker asked what 'concurrent' meant for two-hand controls. OSHA said it required both hands but no simultaneous timing, and that tied-down or bridged controls violated the rule; a serious…
City employee insurance as a governmental plan Unknown
DOL concluded that the described city-paid employee insurance program was established and maintained by a political subdivision for its employees. It was therefore a governmental plan under ERISA…
Single employer property parcel in retirement plans Unknown
DOL found that three retirement plans’ shared interest in one parcel leased to related employers lacked the geographic dispersion needed for qualifying employer real property. The ERISA section…
County employee insurance as a governmental plan Unknown
DOL concluded that the described county employee insurance program, funded by both the county and workers, was established and maintained by a political subdivision for its employees. It was a…
City pension plan as a governmental plan Unknown
DOL concluded that the described city employee pension plan was a governmental plan because the city established and maintained it. The plan was exempt from ERISA Title I requirements, including its…
Community college health plan as a governmental plan Unknown
DOL concluded that the described community college health insurance plan was established and maintained by a state agency or instrumentality. The college paid most of the premiums and administered…
Telephone line work in bad weather and near conductors Unknown
A telephone worker asked about grounding near energized lines and work in bad weather. An OSHA regional office pointed to telecommunications grounding rules, said its standards did not directly…
Savings association accounts and ERISA fiduciary status Unknown
DOL ruled that a savings and loan association offering ordinary accounts for a described pension plan program would not become an ERISA fiduciary or be subject to ERISA bonding merely through that…
Spray-booth separation and material handling
A manufacturer asked how OSHA measured separation from a paint spray area and whether ordinary handling equipment could enter a booth. OSHA said the 20-foot distance ran from the spray area or…
Perimeter railings on temporary steel-erection floors Superseded
A company asked which guardrail rule applied on temporary steel-erection floors. OSHA said the steel-erection wire-rope rule protected erectors during assembly, while other trades using the same…
Crane-suspended platforms and aerial lifts Unknown
An equipment maker asked which OSHA rules applied to personnel lifts and crane-suspended platforms. OSHA said a program directive allowed crane platforms under controlled conditions, and identified…
State school retirement plan reporting exemption Unknown
A board of education asked whether its schools had to file plan reports and descriptions. DOL found that the state school retirement plan was established and administered by state agencies, making…
Sale of nonqualifying employer real property under transition rules Unknown
A profit sharing plan sought an exemption to sell its single employer-leased property back to the employer. DOL and IRS found that the property was not qualifying employer real property. Because…
Lockout for center-pivot irrigation systems
An agricultural safety specialist asked about electrical disconnects on center-pivot irrigation equipment. OSHA said a single lockout system controlled exclusively by the maintenance worker,…
Agency distribution of reciprocal welfare fund contributions Unknown
Two union locals had reciprocal welfare fund contributions, but one local lacked a matching security benefit fund. DOL said ERISA Title I did not prohibit that local’s welfare fund trustees from…
High school district retirement plans and ERISA filing Unknown
A high school district asked whether its two state retirement plans had to file Form EBS-1. DOL found that the district was a state agency or instrumentality and the plans were governmental plans…
State college disability program as governmental plan Unknown
DOL was asked whether a state college's disability policy was a governmental plan. On the supplied facts that the college established, maintained, administered, and controlled the program for state…
City pension plan as governmental plan Unknown
A city asked whether its administered employee pension plan was subject to ERISA Title I. DOL concluded that the city was a political subdivision and that the plan was a governmental plan exempt…
City school district welfare plan as governmental plan Unknown
A city public school district asked whether ERISA changed the prior coverage treatment of its employer-funded welfare plan. DOL found that the plan was established and maintained by a city agency or…
Village employee welfare plan as governmental plan Unknown
A village paid all premiums under a welfare benefit contract for its employees and asked whether ERISA imposed obligations. DOL concluded that the village was a political subdivision and the…
Municipal hospital benefit plans as governmental plans Unknown
A town-appointed board administered a municipal hospital that funded a state retirement plan and employee insurance. DOL concluded that the hospital was an instrumentality of a political…
City health insurance plan as governmental plan Unknown
A city negotiated, paid for, and administered a health insurance plan for its employees. DOL concluded that the plan was established and maintained by a political subdivision and therefore was a…
City hospital plan reporting exemption Unknown
A city maintained a group hospital and surgical plan for employees, with optional dependent coverage funded by employees. DOL concluded that the city plan was a governmental plan exempt from ERISA…
Small insured welfare plan reporting exemptions Unknown
An employer asked about reporting and disclosure exemptions for three insured welfare plans, each with fewer than 100 participants. DOL concluded that the plans qualified for the exemptions in then…
Union credit union as depository for benefit funds Unknown
A union proposed using its credit union to receive and distribute employer contributions for six funds. DOL said the funds would be covered by ERISA if they provided the listed statutory benefits…
Utility-line maintenance near energized conductors Unknown
An electrical workers' union asked which rules governed maintenance near energized utility lines. A regional OSHA office said the construction power-line subpart did not itself cover maintenance,…
Protective equipment and stricter employer rules
An employee asked about being required to wear protective equipment. OSHA said its rules required gear when it could prevent a reasonably probable injury. A company could also impose equipment rules…
First-aid response time on construction sites Unknown
A safety consultant asked how close a physician or hospital had to be for a construction site. OSHA recommended an on-site trained first-aid person if professional care was over eight minutes away;…
First-aid response time on construction sites Unknown
A safety consultant asked how close medical help had to be to a construction site. A regional OSHA office recommended an on-site person trained in first aid when professional care was more than…
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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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.