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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2016 interest rate on federal unemployment advances Withdrawn
ETA told state workforce agencies that Treasury would charge 2.2256 percent interest on repayable Title XII unemployment advances during calendar year 2016. It also reminded states that interest is…
2016 pension adjustments and unemployment benefit offsets Withdrawn
ETA told state workforce agencies that Social Security survivor and retirement annuities and federal civilian pensions had no cost-of-living increase for 2016. States whose unemployment laws offset…
Fiscal year 2016 UI reemployment service grants Unknown
ETA invited state workforce agencies to apply for fiscal year 2016 grants for unemployment reemployment services and eligibility assessments. It set program, reporting and proposal requirements and…
2016 federal salary rates for unemployment claims Withdrawn
ETA pointed state workforce agencies to the 2016 federal General Schedule salary rates for 31 locality pay areas. It said states could use those rates with other documentation to estimate…
2016 military pension cost-of-living adjustments Withdrawn
ETA told state workforce agencies that military retirement pay had no cost-of-living increase for 2016. It provided an attachment detailing retired pay and survivor annuity adjustments, for states…
WIOA transition guidance for Indian and Native American grantees Withdrawn
ETA explained how Indian and Native American Section 166 grantees should move from WIA to WIOA, including program operations, participant services, and planning. The attachments provide references…
Corrected 2015 lower living standard income levels Withdrawn
ETA explained how states should use corrected 2015 Lower Living Standard Income Level figures when deciding eligibility for WIOA programs. People already found eligible under the earlier figures…
Lodging credit toward FLSA wages
WHD explained the conditions for counting employer-provided lodging as wages under FLSA section 3(m), including reasonable cost, records, and employee acceptance. It gives examples involving live-in…
Disaster unemployment assistance amounts for early 2016 Withdrawn
ETA sent state workforce agencies the minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance weekly benefit amounts for major disasters declared from January through March 2016. The attachment lists each state's…
Hazard labels for absorbent clay containing silica
An industry group asked how to label absorbent clay products that may contain crystalline silica. OSHA said manufacturers must first classify the mixture; hazardous products then need labels on…
Extended WIOA training provider eligibility transition Withdrawn
ETA allowed governors to extend the period during which WIA-eligible training providers could remain eligible under WIOA to June 30, 2016, or an earlier date they chose. It amended specified parts…
Hazard labels for sealed products shipped only abroad
A maker of clay-based products asked whether sealed packages prepared only for export need U.S. hazard labels. OSHA described accommodations when the containers are sealed and sent directly abroad…
Federal unemployment code for 2020 census workers Unknown
ETA assigned Federal Identification Code 914 for temporary workers hired for the 2020 census so state agencies could charge their federal unemployment benefits correctly. Permanent Census Bureau…
Unemployment claims for temporary 2020 census workers Unknown
ETA told state workforce agencies to expect unemployment claims from temporary workers hired for the 2020 census. It assigned Federal Identification Code 914 for benefits paid to those temporary…
WOTC certification requests for Empowerment Zone residents Withdrawn
ETA told state workforce agencies when to process Work Opportunity Tax Credit certification requests for people in Empowerment Zones after an extension of zone designations. It identified the…
New approval expiration for Work Opportunity Tax Credit forms Withdrawn
ETA notified states that four Work Opportunity Tax Credit reporting and certification forms had been approved without changes through August 31, 2018. The four forms are attached. ETA now labels the…
Second WIOA youth program transition guidance
ETA gave states and local workforce areas a second set of transition instructions for the WIOA Title I youth program. It addresses program design and serving in-school and out-of-school youth as…
Interim hazard-communication enforcement discretion for distributors
A chemical-distributor association asked whether OSHA’s 2015 transition discretion applied beyond makers of mixtures. OSHA said later interim guidance expanded the limited policy to certain…
Reduced Fiscal Year 2016 WIOA advance funding Withdrawn
ETA reduced the WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker Fiscal Year 2016 advance allotments under a continuing appropriations measure. Its attachments list revised state amounts. Change 4 later restored…
Program Year 2014 WIA annual report narrative Withdrawn
ETA told states what to include in their Program Year 2014 WIA annual report narratives, including service to veterans, customer satisfaction, and submission procedures. The report was due December…
Homelessness definition for veteran employment services Withdrawn
ETA and Veterans’ Employment and Training clarified that homelessness can include people fleeing domestic violence or other dangerous conditions when determining a significant barrier to employment…
Inspection guidance for poultry processing facilities
OSHA directed field staff inspecting poultry slaughter and processing facilities to cover hazards including ergonomics, equipment guarding, chemicals, noise, sanitation and injury records. The memo…
Interim enforcement policy for the process-safety retail exemption Superseded
OSHA issued interim enforcement discretion for facilities it believed had become subject to process-safety requirements after a revised retail-exemption interpretation. OSHA now states on this page…
Employer-owned stop-loss policies and ERISA plan assets Unknown
Plan sponsors asked whether stop-loss policies they proposed to buy for their self-insured health plans would be plan assets under ERISA. EBSA said the policies would not be plan assets on the…
Law-enforcement disability program outside ERISA welfare-plan status Unknown
A law-enforcement association asked whether its long-term disability program was an ERISA welfare plan. Assuming the requester's representation that no employer established or maintained it, EBSA…
Chromic-acid medical examinations in electroplating
An employer asked whether the hexavalent-chromium medical-surveillance rule replaces a separate electroplating rule for periodic examinations after chromic-acid exposure. OSHA said no: the plating…
Asbestos warning signs and ANSI sign designs
A requester asked about the 2016 deadline for revised asbestos warning signs and whether ANSI sign formats could replace the asbestos rule’s wording. OSHA said affected signs had to be updated by…
YouthBuild construction training work sites and projects
ETA told YouthBuild grantees which construction work sites and activities count for hands-on training and clarified when participants may be recorded as successful exits. The guidance applies to…
Asbestos dust sampling as objective exposure data
A consultant asked whether a protocol using building air and dust samples could serve as objective data to show asbestos worker exposure below OSHA limits. OSHA said no and explained that it does…
Arc-rated face shields for covered overhead lines
A utility asked whether a worker facing an estimated 7.7 calories per square centimeter of incident heat needed an arc-rated face shield while other phases were insulated. OSHA said the scenario…
Barrier garments under the bloodborne-pathogens rule
A textile company asked whether active-barrier scrubs and coats count as engineering controls for bloodborne-pathogen exposure. OSHA said no: garments worn by a worker are personal protective…
One safety data sheet for chemicals in glass and metal containers
A chemical company asked whether one safety data sheet could list grounding and bonding precautions even though they do not apply to the product in glass bottles. OSHA said yes, all required…
Access to state unemployment insurance benefits
ETA explained how state unemployment agencies must make claims, benefits and information accessible to eligible people, including those with disabilities or limited English proficiency. The letter…
Claimant rights in unemployment overpayment procedures
ETA reminded state unemployment agencies to investigate suspected overpayments and give claimants notice and an opportunity to respond before making a determination. The letter explains written…
Procedural protections in unemployment overpayment cases
ETA reminded state unemployment agencies to protect claimants' rights when investigating and recovering possible overpayments. States must check evidence, give people a chance to respond, issue…
Transition labels for agricultural chemicals in distribution
An agricultural-chemical group asked whether products could be treated as shipped when released into distribution rather than when they leave a workplace. OSHA described limited transition…
2015 Trade Adjustment Assistance reauthorization instructions Withdrawn
ETA gave state agencies operating instructions for implementing the 2015 Trade Adjustment Assistance reauthorization for affected workers. The attachments contain detailed program instructions, a…
Electrical guarding threshold for direct-current equipment
A requester asked whether energized direct-current equipment below 60 volts could remain unguarded because some consensus standards use that limit. OSHA said its guarding rule applies at 50 volts…
Direct-current electrical guarding and de minimis violations
A requester asked whether OSHA’s 50-volt guarding requirement applies to direct-current parts and whether following a 60-volt consensus threshold would be a minor deviation. OSHA said the rule…
Corrected WIOA Program Year 2015 allotment guidance Withdrawn
ETA corrected the Executive Level II salary cap to $183,300 and four items in an attachment to TEGL 29-14, Change 1. The rest of the earlier allotment guidance remained in place at the time. Later…
Hazard labels on chemical stock packaged before 2015 deadlines
A chemical maker asked OSHA to treat labels as compliant for the life of stock packaged before the June 2015 deadline. OSHA declined an indefinite accommodation. It permitted limited shipments with…
Red-bordered pictograms on shipped chemical containers
A hand-cleaner maker asked to keep single-color pictograms on shipped containers because changing its printing line would be costly. OSHA said the shipped-container pictogram must have a black…
Hepatitis B antibody testing after worker vaccination
A dentist asked whether employees vaccinated against hepatitis B before antibody-testing guidance began must now receive titers or revaccination. OSHA said the bloodborne-pathogen standard did not…
WIOA one-stop delivery system vision
ETA laid out its vision for American Job Centers and other one-stop partners under WIOA, including integrated services for job seekers and employers. The letter directs states and local areas to…
Respirators for wet abrasive blasting
An equipment maker asked whether wet abrasive-blast operators must always wear a Type CE respirator even if toxic dust stays below exposure limits. OSHA said the blasting-respirator requirement…
Decimal commas on chemical safety data sheets
A company asked whether a supplier may show a decimal with a comma on a U.S. safety data sheet. OSHA said the notation is technically incorrect in the United States but does not defeat the…
Quarterly progress reports for unemployment insurance grants Rescinded
ETA introduced a uniform quarterly progress report for state unemployment insurance Supplemental Budget Request grants. It required one report per covered project, due within 45 days after each…
Front-loading paid sick leave hours for employees on longer shifts
An attorney asked whether an employer using the "no accrual, front-load" option for paid sick leave under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act must front-load three days at an employee's…
Written lockout procedures for electrical work
An employer asked several questions about written lockout procedures for building wiring work. OSHA said a copy of the electrical-work provision can serve as the procedure when that provision…
Preprinted hazard pictograms and relabeling in the 2015 transition
A chemical maker asked about blank red pictogram frames, adding new labels over old ones and which 2015 compliance deadline applied. OSHA rejected words placed inside unused pictogram frames,…
High-dollar unemployment overpayment reporting Unknown
ETA revised how states reported high-dollar unemployment insurance overpayments on the ETA 227 form. The change set a $25,000 cumulative overpayment threshold for a claim and explained how to split…
Older material safety sheets and imported chemicals
An employer asked whether it may keep older material safety data sheets for pre-2015 chemicals and how to handle missing updated sheets from foreign suppliers. OSHA said compliant older sheets may…
2015 workforce and labor market information grants Withdrawn
ETA replaced TEGL 39-14 with revised grant guidance for state workforce and labor market information work in Program Year 2015. It clarified that grantees using different data collection methods had…
Using an electrical safety code table to select arc-rated clothing
A utility asked whether it could use a 2012 National Electrical Safety Code table to select arc-rated protection. OSHA said many table values are acceptable incident-energy estimates because they…
Arc-rated clothing estimates under the electric power standard
An electric utility asked whether it could use a 2012 electrical safety code table to choose protective clothing for electric arc hazards. OSHA said many of the table’s estimates were acceptable…
Flammable-aerosol and gas-under-pressure pictograms
An aerosol maker asked whether a Category 1 flammable aerosol always needs both the flame and gas-cylinder pictograms. OSHA said the flame pictogram is required, and the gas-cylinder pictogram is…
Label pictograms for flammable aerosols under hazard communication
An aerosol maker asked whether a flammable aerosol label needs the gas-cylinder pictogram as well as the flame. OSHA said the flame is required, while the cylinder is also required if the product…
Flexible cords and cables used as building wiring
A requester asked how OSHA distinguishes flexible cords and cables and whether they may serve as permanent wiring. OSHA said the rule covers flexible cords and cables under its stated conditions and…
WIOA adult and dislocated worker service transition Rescinded
ETA explained how states should deliver WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker services and Wagner-Peyser employment services beginning July 1, 2015. It covered career and training services, use of funds,…
National Dislocated Worker Grant operating guidance Withdrawn
ETA set the policies and priorities for National Dislocated Worker Grants under WIOA, including layoff and disaster grants. Two attachments provide references and additional operating instructions.…
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.