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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Valuing purchased annuities as plan assets Unknown
In reply to a question about plan assets, DOL said annuities purchased by a plan, including reserves held by an insurer for previously purchased annuities, count as plan assets. It said to value…
Toilets in a nearby building on one premises
A business asked whether a smaller building needed its own toilets when a main building stood about 90 feet away. OSHA said the arrangement appeared to meet the cited sanitation rule if both…
Governmental status of county public school benefit plans Unknown
DOL was asked whether two county school benefit plans, administered by the school system and funded by both employer and participant contributions, were covered by ERISA. It concluded that the…
Bonding for a company forwarding plan checks and policies Unknown
A company asked whether forwarding checks and insurance-surrender paperwork for a benefit plan required its staff to be bonded. Under DOL's then temporary rules, it said merely forwarding checks…
Safety latches on hoist hooks
An insurer asked when lifting hooks needed throat latches. OSHA cited the mobile-crane provision calling for safety-latch hooks wherever possible. It said a hazardous unlatchable hoisting operation…
Load-indicating devices on shoreside cranes Unknown
An oil company asked when a shoreside crane needed a load-indicating device. OSHA explained the 11,200-pound maximum-outreach capacity threshold and a limited exception when conditions restricted…
Welfare plans exempt from pension participation standards Unknown
DOL was asked whether group health, life, and disability insurance plans had to meet ERISA participation standards. It classified the described plans as welfare benefit plans and said section 201(1)…
Bank tuition reimbursement from general assets Unknown
A bank asked whether its support for an education and recreation institute was covered by ERISA. DOL focused on the bank’s discretionary tuition refunds for successfully completed courses, paid…
Working alone around belt-driven machinery Unknown
A worker asked whether two people had to be present around belt-driven machines and motors. OSHA said it had no two-person requirement, but cited guarding requirements for belts and pulleys within…
Identical saw-guard requirements and citation grouping Unknown
An OSHA official discussed duplicate circular-saw guarding provisions that could produce multiple citations for one hazard. The memo noted penalty grouping under the then-current field manual and…
Plan land purchase after party in interest trustee resigns Unknown
A plan sought an exemption to buy land from the estate of a former participating employer’s sole shareholder. DOL found that the estate’s executor, formerly a plan trustee, had resigned, leaving no…
Guarding milling-machine cutters Unknown
An OSHA regional office asked about guarding stationary cutters on milling machines. OSHA said a conventional point-of-operation guard could sometimes interfere with work or introduce other hazards.…
Alternative guards for stationary milling-machine cutters Unknown
An OSHA region asked about guarding stationary cutters on milling machines. OSHA acknowledged that ordinary guards could interfere with work or create hazards and said splash shields, chip shields,…
Unobstructed width of exit routes Unknown
A company asked whether vending machines and coat racks obstructed its exit routes. OSHA said the described hallways appeared to comply because they retained more than 44 inches of unobstructed…
Insurance renewal commissions outside pension plan definition Unknown
An insurance seller asked whether renewal commissions were ERISA pension benefits requiring vesting. DOL said the seller was not entitled to a renewal commission until the policy premium was paid.…
Voluntary employee stock purchase plan outside ERISA Unknown
A bank offered companies a specimen voluntary payroll-deduction plan for employees to purchase their employer's stock, with possible matching contributions and a right to withdraw at any time. DOL…
Pregnancy-related benefit disqualification after Turner Unknown
ETA explained that states should suspend blanket pregnancy-based unemployment benefit disqualifications after the Supreme Court’s Turner decision and assess individual ability to work. Current…
Stock plan participant investments in credit union shares Unknown
A stock-bonus plan proposed letting eligible participants direct part of their accounts into shares of an employee credit union. DOL concluded that the described participant-directed investment was…
Backup alarms on crawler cranes used for earthmoving Unknown
A contractor asked whether a crawler crane needed a backup alarm. OSHA said its crawler-crane provision had no such requirement. If the machine was used for earthmoving, however, the cited…
Valuing closely held employer securities for a plan Unknown
A proposed profit sharing plan sought advice on buying closely held employer stock at adjusted book value. DOL said it would not make an advance adequate-consideration determination for an…
Association-endorsed IRAs under ERISA Title I Unknown
An employer association planned to recommend an IRA program to members and receive an introduction fee, while participating employers would offer payroll deductions. DOL said the association acted…
Restricted withdrawals and pension plan coverage Unknown
A savings bank argued that liberal withdrawals kept its incentive savings plan outside ERISA’s pension definition. DOL found the handbook discouraged withdrawals and suspended contributions for…
Ventilation at powered-truck battery charging
An industrial supplier asked what adequate ventilation meant for powered-truck battery charging. OSHA said natural or mechanical ventilation had to keep hydrogen below its 4.1% lower explosive limit…
Testing lineman safety belts and straps
An equipment supplier asked OSHA to approve lineman safety belts and related devices. OSHA said it did not approve products; employers had to comply with applicable rules. It identified the…
Nominal pipe diameter for guardrails Unknown
A structural-steel company asked about the required diameter of pipe guardrails. OSHA referred to its nominal-diameter directive and said the described standard pipe met the guardrail size…
Reemployment and employee-funded pension benefits Unknown
A requester asked whether a retired pressman's pension could be suspended if he returned to work in an administrative quality-control role. DOL said the described multiemployer pension was funded…
Insurer sale of both a benefit policy and a required bond Unknown
A requester asked whether the insurer funding a benefit plan could also sell the required ERISA bond. DOL said selling a group policy to the employer alone did not make the insurer a plan party in…
Participant control of an individual pension account Unknown
A requester asked whether a participant directing an individual pension account had to meet ERISA's fiduciary prudence duty and could direct a prohibited transaction. DOL said the participant was…
Bolted cage hoops on fixed ladders Unknown
A manufacturer asked OSHA to review a fixed-ladder cage assembled with bolts rather than welds or rivets. OSHA said it could not approve a product; the design generally matched the cited figure, but…
Flammable-liquid storage warehouse classification
A wholesale distributor asked which flammable-liquid warehouse category covered buildings closed to customers and other companies. OSHA said the described buildings fell under the general-purpose…
Bank trustee's conflict as a secured employer creditor Unknown
DOL reviewed a proposed arrangement in which a plan's bank trustee was also a major secured creditor of the employer whose securities formed much of the plan's assets. DOL said the bank could not…
ERISA coverage of employee-funded vacation plans Unknown
A building-trades adviser asked whether vacation plans funded solely by employees were subject to ERISA. DOL said the described plans generally were welfare plans under ERISA whether or not they had…
Transportation racks under bakery machinery rule Unknown
A bakery asked whether its wheeled racks used to move finished products fell under a bakery equipment rule. OSHA distinguished those transportation racks from proof racks and said violations…
Electric blasting machine limitations
An OSHA regional office reviewed a described electric blasting unit. It said the device appeared to meet the cited electric-machine requirement, while other provisions still limited its use in…
Photochromic lenses in industrial safety eyewear Unknown
An optical company asked about photochromic lenses for industrial safety eyewear. OSHA said covered eye protection had to satisfy the full then-referenced ANSI standard and that photochromic lenses…
Variable-tint safety lenses under ANSI eye-protection rule Unknown
A chemical company asked whether variable-tint lenses met OSHA eye-protection rules and whether it should recall them. OSHA said the lenses did not meet the then-referenced ANSI standard where eye…
State instrumentality pension plan exemption Unknown
DOL was asked about a pension plan established by a wholly state-owned instrumentality and funded and administered by it. DOL concluded that the plan was established and maintained for the…
Fire protection district pension plan exemption Unknown
A fire protection district asked about its pension plan for paid and volunteer personnel, funded by the state, district property taxes, and paid employees. DOL found the district was a state agency…
Housing authority retirement program exemption Unknown
A housing authority with a HUD contribution contract asked about its employer- and employee-funded retirement program. DOL concluded the program was established and maintained by the authority for…
Regional school district insured plan exemption Unknown
A regional public school district board established and administered an insured plan with employer and employee contributions. DOL concluded the plan was established and maintained by the school…
Public library district retirement plan exemption Unknown
A public library district, described as an independent taxing governmental unit, asked about its municipal retirement fund participation. DOL found that the district established and administered the…
Regional sewage district employee plans exemption Unknown
A regional sewage district created by state legislation asked about insurance and municipal retirement plans for its employees. DOL found the district was a political subdivision and that its…
Irrigation district pension plan exemption Unknown
An irrigation district organized as a state political subdivision asked about its employer- and employee-funded plan administered by employer-appointed trustees. DOL concluded the plan was…
State valley authority retirement program exemption Unknown
A valley authority created by state legislation and described as a political subdivision asked about its employer-funded retirement program. DOL concluded the plan was established and maintained by…
Teachers pension fund loan and governmental status Unknown
A requester asked about a teachers pension fund loan to a city. DOL expressed a then tentative view that the fund was a governmental plan excluded from ERISA and, if so, its investments fell outside…
Unfunded management retirement program during plan transition Unknown
A company was replacing a long-standing pension system with profit sharing but retaining an unfunded supplement for 23 older managers. DOL found the legacy system an ERISA pension plan that…
Warehouse passage as a means of egress Unknown
A pump manufacturer asked whether a route through a warehouse could serve nearby buildings. OSHA described how exit signs, alternate exits, occupancy, and passage width affected the arrangement and…
Strength and scope of press flywheel guards Unknown
An OSHA region asked how strong press flywheel guards had to be. OSHA said the cited press rule applied regardless of the flywheel’s height and that guard brackets should contain the wheel if the…
Union dues transmitted through vacation funds Unknown
A building trades association asked whether vacation and holiday funds could transmit employee-authorized union working dues. DOL said amounts clearly designated in plan documents for transmission…
No participation-standard phase-in variance Unknown
A requester sought a three- or four-year delay for a client facing ERISA’s minimum participation requirements. DOL distinguished its authority over certain vesting, accrual, funding, and disclosure…
Fabricated PVC products and vinyl-chloride exposure
A chemical company petitioned for a change to the vinyl-chloride rule’s fabricated-product definition. OSHA explained that “release” meant enough vinyl chloride to likely expose workers at or above…
Joint and survivor annuity on participant-selected annuities Unknown
A defined contribution plan ordinarily paid cash but let participants direct their account value to an annuity. DOL said the joint and survivor requirements then in ERISA section 205 applied when an…
Early payment from a profit sharing plan Unknown
An employer asked whether it could pay departing participants’ profit sharing balances promptly or had to wait for a one-year break in service. DOL said the cited section 206(a) set a latest…
Union accident and death fund under ERISA Unknown
A union asked to exempt its accident and death benefit fund. DOL found it was an employee organization welfare plan and rejected comparisons to church plans and the statutory exclusion for plans…
Industrial sling rules and laundry nets
An industrial laundry group asked whether OSHA’s industrial-sling rule covered large laundry nets. OSHA said it had no standard under that provision for the nets.
Exit-door headroom and vertical machine guarding
An engineering company asked about emergency-door headroom and machine guards on vertical units. OSHA said the 6-foot-8-inch clearance applied regardless of door-closure hardware position. It…
Strength criterion for guardrail top rails Unknown
A construction engineer asked how to relate OSHA's 200-pound top-rail requirement to design stress. OSHA said the completed railing had to withstand that load applied in any direction at any point…
Employer hours records and multiemployer service credit Unknown
A multiemployer plan asked whether it had to obtain hours records from participating employers for participation and vesting credit. DOL said those records were reasonably accessible under the then…
Flagger garments for off-duty police officers Unknown
A contractors' association asked whether uniformed police working off duty as construction flaggers needed the garments required by OSHA's flagging rule. OSHA said they did when employed by the…
Who may prepare the EBS-1 plan description form Unknown
A requester asked whether an external adviser had to be a lawyer to prepare Form EBS-1. DOL said it had not designed the form as a legal document in that sense, especially its short and proposed…
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.