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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Paid Sick Leave - Frequently Asked Questions
This L&I administrative policy answers frequently asked questions about Washington's paid sick leave law: who is covered, how leave accrues (1 hour per 40 hours worked) and carries over, when and…
Fiscal Year 2026 sequestration of mandatory unemployment programs Unknown
ETA tells state unemployment agencies which federally funded programs were subject to the 5.7 percent fiscal year 2026 sequestration cut. It says the federal share of Extended Benefits, certain…
Meal & Rest Break Protections for Certain Healthcare Workers
This L&I administrative policy explains additional meal and rest break protections for certain hospital employees beyond Washington's general break rules: who is covered, uninterrupted-break…
Labor Conditions for Agricultural Work: Heat Protection; Short-Handled Tool & Hand-Weeding/Thinning Limits; Public Health Emergency Protections
This Division notice details Colorado agricultural workers' heat safety protections (water, shade, extra rest breaks, and annual training/monitoring obligations once it's 80 degrees or hotter, with…
WIOA state plan modifications for program years 2026–2027
ETA and the Education Department explain the required two-year modification of states’ four-year WIOA Unified or Combined State Plans for program years 2026 and 2027. The letter sets submission…
Appealing a determination after the investigation
This Division notice explains how a claimant or employer appeals a wage claim determination: the 35-day filing deadline, what filing an appeal does and doesn't stay, how to submit new evidence and…
Summary: the Division wage claim investigation, appeals, and enforcement process
This short Division notice is a roadmap to the wage-claim process: how the Division investigates a complaint of unpaid wages (with a $7,500 cap on what it can order), the penalties and fines that…
Commissions and Bonuses
This Division notice explains when Colorado employers must pay commissions and bonuses: they must be earned, owed under the terms of the agreement, and determinable in amount, and can't be waived…
Employee Access to Personnel File
This L&I administrative policy explains employees' and former employees' right under RCW 49.12.240 to review and receive a free copy of their personnel file within 21 days of a request, what records…
Recording workplace burns from personal lithium-ion batteries
An employer asked whether a burn from a personal e-cigarette battery fire at work is work-related for OSHA recordkeeping. OSHA said the workplace fire is the precipitating event and the injury is…
Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Parents
This Division notice summarizes nursing employees' rights to pump at work under Colorado's Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act and the federal PUMP Act: required unpaid or paid break…
Timing of Wage Payments, & Required Record-Keeping
This Division notice explains when Colorado employers must pay wages: regular pay periods and paydays, the strict deadlines for paying out all wages when an employee is fired, laid off, or quits,…
FMLA leave for travel to medical appointments
An employer asked whether employees may use FMLA leave to travel to medical appointments, including when a medical certification says nothing about travel time. WHD said travel to and from…
Partial-week school closures and FMLA leave counting
A school asked how a closure lasting less than a week affects an employee's FMLA leave balance. WHD said a closed day generally does not count when the employee takes leave for only part of that…
Federal wage threshold and tips in the commissioned-worker exemption
Restaurants asked whether the FLSA overtime exemption for certain commissioned workers uses a higher state minimum wage and how tips affect its commission test. WHD said the exemption's pay…
Mandatory 15-minute roll call for county 911 dispatchers
A union asked whether a required 15-minute roll call before each 911 dispatch shift could count as work but be left out of overtime calculations. WHD said the proposed agreement makes roll call…
Safety and performance bonuses in waste-driver overtime pay
A waste-management employer paid drivers preset safety and performance bonuses but calculated overtime using only their base hourly wage. WHD said the bonuses were earned under advance criteria, not…
Employer reclassification of a clinical social worker as nonexempt
A licensed clinical social worker asked whether losing supervisory duties disqualifies the worker from the FLSA learned-professional exemption and whether the employer may reclassify the role as…
Minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance weekly benefit amounts, January–March 2026
ETA gives state workforce agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from January 1 through March 31, 2026. States use half their average…
2026 cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and federal civilian pensions
ETA tells state unemployment agencies about the 2026 cost-of-living increases for Social Security annuities and federal civilian pensions. Where a state's law reduces unemployment benefits based on…
2026 locality pay rates for federal employees and unemployment claims
ETA points state unemployment agencies to the 2026 federal General Schedule locality pay rates published by the Office of Personnel Management. It says agencies may use those rates, with other…
2026 federal military pension cost-of-living adjustments
ETA tells state unemployment agencies about cost-of-living increases to federal military retired pay and survivor benefits effective December 1, 2025. Where state law reduces unemployment benefits…
Payment Management System payment request justifications
ETA tells grant and cooperative agreement recipients what to write in the mandatory justification field when requesting funds through the Payment Management System. It explains how ETA reviews the…
Tips (Gratuities) and Tipped Employees Under Colorado Wage Law
This Division notice explains how Colorado law protects employee tips and when employers may pay tipped employees less than full minimum wage using a "tip credit." It covers the current tip-credit…
Local Minimum Wages
This Division notice explains how Colorado local governments (cities, towns, counties, and combined city-counties) may adopt a local minimum wage higher than the state minimum wage: the annual 15%…
Overtime and Minimum Wage Obligations for Agricultural Employment
This Division notice explains minimum wage ($15.16/hour in 2026, or a range-worker weekly salary) and overtime pay obligations for Colorado agricultural employers under the ALRRA and COMPS Order.…
Summary: Requirements of the Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Act (ALRRA)
This short Division notice is a roadmap to Colorado's Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Act (ALRRA): minimum wage and overtime rules, rest and meal breaks, worksite access to key service…
Key wage and hour rights under Colorado's COMPS and PAY CALC Orders
This annually-updated Division notice summarizes the core wage-and-hour rights and obligations under Colorado's Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards ("COMPS") Order and its yearly PAY CALC wage…
Amendments to fiscal year 2024 RESEA grant guidance
ETA amends its fiscal year 2024 grant guidance for state Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment programs. It removes specified language about program equity and a reference to a revoked…
Removal of language from six earlier unemployment insurance letters
ETA removes language about program equity and equitable access, along with references to Executive Order 13985, from the Summary or Background sections of six earlier unemployment insurance letters.…
Rescission of UIPL 01-24 on equitable access to unemployment insurance
ETA rescinds UIPL No. 01-24, its November 2023 guidance on access to unemployment insurance. The agency says parts of that earlier letter no longer align with executive orders issued in January…
FY 2024 RESEA grant guidance amended, Change 2
ETA amends TEGL 11-23, the FY 2024 Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment grant guidance, by removing specified language about program equity and a citation to a revoked executive order.…
Law Restricting Mandatory Overtime for Certain Healthcare Employees
This L&I administrative policy explains RCW 49.28.130-.150, which bars covered health care facilities from requiring certain credentialed healthcare employees (nurses, surgical technologists,…
Job Posting Requirements
This L&I administrative policy explains the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act's job-posting disclosure duty (RCW 49.58.110): employers with 15 or more employees (including remote/out-of-state…
Reporting year 2025 unemployment benefit accuracy data procedures Unknown
ETA gives state unemployment agencies deadlines and checks for finalizing their 2025 Benefit Accuracy Measurement data on paid and denied claims. States were asked to compare their results with…
Workforce program performance data validation, Change 3
ETA updates data-validation guidance for state and other workforce grant recipients reporting program performance. It tells recipients to replace the attachments to TEGL 23-19, Changes 1 and 2, with…
WIOA program flexibilities and waiver opportunities
ETA describes ways state and local workforce systems can use existing WIOA flexibility and request waivers to adjust program operations. It asks workforce boards to review practices and work with…
Lockout devices while equipment awaits repair parts
An employer asked when lockout devices must remain on equipment awaiting repair parts and whether other locks may be used. OSHA said other devices may be used during the wait if no employee is…
Minimum wage for tipped employees who also do non-tip work in the same shift
DLS addressed how to pay tipped employees who also perform non-tip work (like kitchen prep or cleaning) during the same shift. It concluded that while the service rate plus tips can satisfy minimum…
Transportation Network Companies (TNCs): Driver Rights and Labor Transparency
This Division notice explains the Transportation Network Company Transparency Act, which covers rideshare platforms ("TNCs"). It requires TNCs to disclose pay, time, and distance for each ride offer…
Local Government Union Requirements and Employee Protections
This is the newest chapter of DOLI's Field Operations Manual, added in 2025 to explain how Virginia's private-sector labor-organization protections now extend to local government employers and…
Program Year 2025 SCSEP national grantee allotments, Change 1
ETA adds program year 2025 Senior Community Service Employment Program planning instructions and allotments for national grantees to TEGL 16-24. It identifies $307,072,086 for national grantees and…
FMLA hours for correctional staff with mandatory overtime
An employer asked how to convert correctional officers' FMLA leave to hours when their fixed schedule requires 84 hours every two weeks and also offers optional extra shifts. WHD said the normal…
Emergency pay in city firefighters' overtime rate
A city firefighter asked whether extra pay for work during declared emergencies can be excluded from the overtime rate. WHD said the city's written policy makes that payment predictable, and it fits…
Front-of-house oyster shuckers in a restaurant tip pool
A restaurant asked whether oyster shuckers at its visible oyster bar may share tips with servers whose wages include a tip credit. WHD said the described shuckers interact with customers while…
Overtime for work at a restaurant and associated members club
A restaurant hostess asked whether shifts at a nearby members club count toward overtime when the businesses say they are separate companies. WHD found that the two operations are joint employers…
Lead dust on construction surfaces
A construction employer asked what level of lead dust satisfies the requirement to keep surfaces as free as practicable of lead. OSHA said the standard sets no numerical dust threshold; employers…
Fiscal year 2025 state unemployment insurance resource allocations
ETA gives state unemployment agencies their final fiscal year 2025 base administration allocations and a state-by-state funding table. It explains how the enacted appropriation reduced preliminary…
Lifetime income strategy as a default retirement investment Unknown
An investment manager asked whether a lifetime income strategy could qualify as a default investment for retirement plans and how insurer selection should be handled. EBSA concluded the described…
Meal and Rest Periods
This Division notice explains Colorado's meal- and rest-period rules under the COMPS Order: a duty-free 30-minute meal period for shifts over 5 hours (paid if truly impractical to relieve the…
Deferred incentive awards as an ERISA bonus program Unknown
A financial firm asked whether its deferred incentive compensation for financial advisers was an ERISA pension plan. EBSA said the program appears to be an exempt bonus program: its awards mainly…
Recordkeeping and Access to Payroll Records (Non-agricultural Employment)
This L&I administrative policy explains non-agricultural employers' payroll recordkeeping duties under the Industrial Welfare Act and Minimum Wage Act: what records must be kept (names, addresses,…
Minimum Disaster Unemployment Assistance weekly benefit amounts, October–December 2025
ETA gives state workforce agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October 1 through December 31, 2025. States and territories use half…
Program Year 2025 workforce and labor market information grants
ETA tells state workforce agencies how to use Program Year 2025 Workforce and Labor Market Information Grants to develop and distribute labor market data. The letter specifies required database,…
Emergency response plans for underground coal mines
MSHA explains what underground coal mine operators should include in an approved emergency response plan under the MINER Act. The letter covers evacuation, communications and tracking, breathing…
Using WIOA funds to develop youth and adult AI skills
ETA encourages state and local workforce boards to use WIOA Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker programs to help participants develop artificial intelligence skills. It suggests AI literacy…
Electrical safeguards for hot-swappable busway units
A requester asked whether workers may insert or remove plug-in units from an energized electrical busway marketed as hot swappable. OSHA said the work falls under its rules for work near exposed…
Fiscal year 2026 state unemployment insurance resource planning targets Unknown
ETA gives state unemployment insurance agencies preliminary funding and staffing targets for fiscal year 2026, plus the method used to allocate base resources among states. It asked states to share…
Transition of UI reports and benefit accuracy data to the new reporting system Superseded
ETA originally told state unemployment agencies to move required report submissions and Benefit Accuracy Measurement data to its new reporting system in December 2025. It gave access and transition…
Which employees performing some managerial tasks may join a tip pool
A law firm asked the Nevada Labor Commissioner whether hourly, non-exempt employees who perform some managerial or supervisory tasks (but can't hire, fire, discipline, schedule, or otherwise set…
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.