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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1975 view of state prepaid health law preemption Superseded
Asked in 1975 about Hawaii's prepaid health care act, DOL concluded that ERISA section 514 entirely superseded that law insofar as it related to covered employer welfare plans. It distinguished…
Profit sharing plan paying at termination under ERISA Unknown
A trustee asked whether a profit sharing plan was covered by ERISA. DOL said it saw no reason to exclude the described plan, which paid a lump sum at termination. That income deferral met the…
Training operators of vehicle-mounted aerial lifts
An employer asked about operator qualifications for aerial ladders and booms. OSHA said the cited vehicle-mounted platform rule did not require an employer to certify and designate an operator to…
Guarding mechanical presses outside the power-press rule
A manufacturer asked which guarding standard applied to its mechanical goods presses. OSHA said the described machines did not meet the definition of mechanical power presses, so the general…
Fasteners for power-transmission guard covers Unknown
A machinery company asked whether removable guard covers needed fasteners every five inches. OSHA said the guard had to be secure to its frame, but the covers or hinges did not need that spacing and…
Front-end loaders outside powered-industrial-truck rule Unknown
A union official asked whether a front-end loader fell under OSHA's powered-industrial-truck training rule. OSHA said the earthmoving vehicle remained outside that rule even when used for another…
No legal list for World Bank bond investments Unknown
Asked whether World Bank bonds were lawful investments for multiemployer plans, DOL said it did not maintain a legal list. It said plan fiduciaries had to judge prudence in light of the investment’s…
Amorphous-silica dust limit under misprinted formula Unknown
An OSHA region asked which formula set the total-dust exposure limit for amorphous silica. OSHA said a misprinted formula remained the lawful one until amended through rulemaking and explained when…
New York unemployment coverage conformity decision
ETA transmitted the Secretary’s decision that New York could not exclude specified services from coverage required by the 1970 FUTA amendments. The full linked decision is included. ETA still lists…
Transfer of plan claim records between administrators Unknown
A plan asked to transfer claim records from its former insurer administrator to a successor trustee. DOL said the transfer served efficient administration if the predecessor kept a list of…
Traffic-exposure rule for excavation workers Unknown
An OSHA area office asked whether a construction traffic provision applied beyond excavations. OSHA said the cited rule concerned workers exposed to vehicles during excavation or trenching, while…
Compressed gas cylinders in construction tunnels
OSHA was asked whether oxygen, acetylene, or other fuel-gas cylinders could be taken into construction tunnels. It said a tunnel's classification depends on its conditions: cylinders must remain…
Self-executing ban on fiduciary exculpation Unknown
A plan asked about a draft amendment to remove fiduciary liability waivers. DOL said section 410(a) automatically made contrary provisions void when it applied, so an amendment was not needed for…
Citing a violation while an earlier citation is contested
OSHA considered whether to cite an employer for another apparent violation when an earlier citation was still being contested. It said the second violation should still be cited and would be…
Timing and survivor rights for vested pension benefits Unknown
A requester asked about a fully vested employee leaving before retirement age. DOL said full vesting did not require immediate payment if the plan set payment at normal retirement age. It referred a…
Nonprofit organizations and ERISA commerce coverage Unknown
A requester asked whether nonprofit organizations were outside ERISA. DOL said nonprofit status alone provided no exemption where activities affected commerce, absent another statutory or regulatory…
Bond procurement through interested insurance agents Unknown
An insurance agency sought relief in case plan bonds procured through related agents violated ERISA section 412(c). DOL said it could not grant an exemption from that prohibition and explained the…
Voluntary stock purchase plan outside ERISA Unknown
A specimen plan let employees buy employer stock through payroll deductions with possible employer contributions and withdraw their account value at any time. DOL found no statutory welfare benefit…
State plan reporting before ERISA preemption Unknown
A requester wanted DOL to stop a state board from demanding a plan report. DOL said ERISA section 514 preemption began January 1, 1975, so the state could still require its Form R-2 for prior…
Perimeter rail installation on decked steel floors Superseded
A steel contractor asked when to install a perimeter safety railing on a decked floor. OSHA agreed that installation before adjacent decking was in place would be hazardous. A later correction…
Construction bus operating on a road open to public traffic
A construction employer sought a variance for a bus carrying employees over a paved road used by public traffic. OSHA said the described trip did not fall under its off-highway jobsite motor-vehicle…
Union bond purchases as current compensation Unknown
DOL found that bonds a union bought monthly for its secretary, which immediately became her property, were current compensation rather than an ERISA pension plan. The conclusion depends on the…
Sleeve guards over motor and pump couplings Unknown
A pump company asked whether a metal sleeve bolted over a motor coupling met the guarding rule. OSHA said the described design complied with the cited provision, while the company could make that…
Self-insured welfare plans and state insurance law Unknown
A requester asked whether a state law imposing insurance-company requirements on employers self-insuring their workers was preempted. DOL said section 514’s insurance savings clause did not preserve…
Swinging gates at fixed-ladder landings Unknown
An engineer asked whether swinging gates were needed at fixed-ladder landings. OSHA said the cited gate requirement applied to ladderway floor openings and platforms, not landings with fixed ladders…
No postponement of ERISA bonding requirements Unknown
A plan asked DOL to postpone ERISA bonding. DOL said the statute granted no postponement authority. Under the then temporary regulation, bonding applied to fiduciaries whose duties created a risk of…
Employer stock certificates exchanged on reincorporation Unknown
Two pension plans would exchange employer stock certificates one for one during a corporate reincorporation. On the exact facts represented, DOL concluded the exchange was not prohibited under…
Fire-extinguishing systems in spray booths Unknown
An insurer asked how spray-booth filter and fire-protection rules worked together. OSHA said approved dry-chemical or carbon-dioxide systems could substitute for sprinklers in the cited setting,…
Prospective adjustment of bargained pension benefits Unknown
A bargained pension arrangement asked whether benefits or contribution rates could be adjusted when projected contributions could not support benefits. DOL said ERISA did not set the plan’s benefit…
DOL involvement in pre-ERISA benefit suit Unknown
A requester who had filed a suit seeking benefits for a plan participant wrote to DOL. DOL said Title I’s substantive provisions did not apply retroactively to the pre-effective-date cause of…
Measuring ventilation at plating-tank hoods Unknown
A steel company asked how to check airflow at plating tanks where some ducts were lined. OSHA described hood-edge measurements, contaminant sampling, and a modified Pitot tube, while later striking…
Electrical motors near spray operations Unknown
A metal-cladding company asked where electrical motors could be located near a spray operation. OSHA said motors in the described flammable atmosphere had to meet the cited electrical requirements…
Impartial chair bonding in multiemployer plans Unknown
A transit plan asked whether an impartial chair who resolved trustee deadlocks needed bonding. DOL assumed trustees handled assets and said the chair’s full voting powers made the chair subject to…
Employment of a plan trustee’s relative Unknown
A plan asked whether a qualified and reasonably paid relative of a trustee could work as claims representative. DOL said a statutory relative was a party in interest and the service arrangement…
Side-rail extensions and grab rails at ladder landings
A construction employer asked when ladder side rails must extend above a landing. OSHA said manufactured portable wood or metal ladders need not have their rungs removed above the landing, while…
Counterweights on the carrier of a maritime crane Unknown
A wharf company sought a variance for counterweights on the truck portion of its mobile cranes. OSHA said the cited restriction concerned the crane, not the truck or carrier, so the described…
Small profit sharing plan bonding Unknown
A requester asked for a minimum employee count below which bonding would not apply. DOL said ERISA had no such numerical exemption. Under the then temporary rule, fiduciaries whose duties put plan…
Low doorways and a de minimis exit-route notice Unknown
A tannery requested a variance for two low doorways on exit routes. OSHA reviewed other exits, padding, warning signs, and limited occupancy, then said the condition could receive a de minimis…
Footwear clicking machines and machine guarding Unknown
A footwear industry lawyer asked which guarding rule covered clicking machines. OSHA said they were outside the mechanical-power-press rule but remained subject to the general machine-guarding rule;…
Crane fire extinguishers during nonworking hours Unknown
A contractor sought a variance from carrying fire extinguishers in crane cabs after work ended. OSHA said the cited standards required them during crane operations, not nonworking hours without…
When cut-and-cover subway work becomes tunnel work
OSHA was asked when its tunnel construction standards apply to cut-and-cover subway work. It said a section becomes a tunnel once completed and backfilled, and listed the conditions for citing an…
Two-hand molding-press controls and accidental operation Unknown
A plastics company asked whether two-hand molding-press buttons needed surrounding guards. OSHA said the controls had to be protected against unintended operation and that their location or height…
Crane lifts over energized power lines Unknown
A utility asked about crane lifts over energized lines. OSHA said workers should be protected by de-energizing the system or by blanketing the lines and using a crane boom shield, and it referred to…
Distinguishing stair railings from handrails Unknown
An OSHA region asked about railing specifications for stairs. OSHA distinguished handrails from stair railings, explained that posts and brackets were part of their assemblies rather than separate…
Independent contractor retirement plan outside ERISA Unknown
DOL was asked whether a retirement plan for a hospital's independent contractors was an ERISA pension plan. It said a plan covering contractors and no employees was outside ERISA, while worker…
Recordkeeping for injuries aboard fishing vessels Unknown
A seafood company asked whether injuries aboard tuna boats outside U.S. territorial waters belonged in its OSHA reporting data. OSHA said excluding them would conflict with the reporting scheme's…
Participant direction and fiduciary liability under ERISA Unknown
A requester asked whether participant-directed individual account transactions were exempt from ERISA. DOL said section 404(c) did not exempt all such transactions; it limited fiduciary liability…
Protective clothing when cleaning vinyl-chloride vessels
A tire manufacturer sought a variance from protective-clothing requirements for employees working around vinyl-chloride residue inside vessels. OSHA said the employees could still contact residue…
Lighting fixtures near spray booths Unknown
A person asked OSHA to approve lighting fixtures for spray booths. OSHA said it could not approve products and described the then-cited rule for lighting outside the booth through transparent…
Appeals promptness after the Fusari decision
ETA explained that the Supreme Court’s Fusari decision made the speed and adequacy of benefit appeals central to the fairness of unemployment determination procedures. The letter remains on ETA’s…
Working alone briefly in an electrical manhole
An electrical workers' union asked when a worker may enter a manhole alone under the power transmission and distribution rule. OSHA said another employee must generally be available nearby, but…
Rungs above a ladder landing
A construction association asked whether rungs must be removed when a ladder extends more than 36 inches above a landing. OSHA said the cited standards did not require removing those rungs to let…
Railroad insurance premium payroll checkoff Unknown
Railroad workers purchased individually issued insurance policies, and their employers only deducted and remitted premiums. DOL said that checkoff alone did not show employer or union establishment…
Calculating the stopping distance of a rubber mill
A machinery company asked how to calculate a mill's stopping distance under OSHA's rule. OSHA said to multiply the running speed in feet per minute by the rule's 1.5% constant, then convert feet to…
Fixed-ladder rung spacing and variance request Unknown
A food company sought a variance because the first step of several fixed ladders would vary in height while the remaining rungs were spaced 12 inches apart. OSHA said the arrangement met the rule's…
Manufacturer specifications for a construction crane Unknown
A power company sought a variance for a construction crane. OSHA said the described crane met the cited manufacturer's specifications if inspected, maintained, and serviced as the certificate…
Funding of a bargained defined benefit pension plan Unknown
A company asked whether its bargained nonqualified pension plan was subject to minimum funding rules. DOL said the uninsured defined benefit plan fell within no cited exception and would be covered…
Wire-rope clips on crawler-crane running ropes
A construction company sought a variance because it used wire-rope clips on crawler-crane running ropes. OSHA said the cited ban on clips forming eyes applied to bridles and slings, not to the…
Participant loans and ERISA prohibited-transaction relief Unknown
A requester asked about loans from a pension plan to employees. DOL described a transition for qualifying contracts in effect July 1, 1974, ending June 30, 1984. It said other loans were prohibited…
Fiduciary compensation transition interpretation Unknown
A requester asked how a then interpretive bulletin treated pay to plan fiduciaries already receiving full-time employer or union compensation. DOL said section 408(c)(2)’s expense-only clause was a…
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.