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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OSHA review of spray insulation safety data sheets
A spray insulation manufacturer asked OSHA to stop an industry association from distributing an earlier criticism of its safety data sheet. OSHA said the earlier review had involved the cured…
2009 unemployment modernization incentive payments and state transfers Unknown
ETA explained how states could qualify for 2009 Recovery Act unemployment modernization incentive payments and use a separate administrative transfer. Seven attachments cover eligibility,…
Administrative funding for temporary federal unemployment supplement Withdrawn
ETA told states they could request reimbursement for one-time administrative costs of implementing the temporary $25 weekly Federal Additional Compensation program. It identified permissible costs,…
Temporary 2009 changes to federal-state Extended Benefits Unknown
ETA explained temporary Recovery Act changes to the federal-state Extended Benefits program, including full federal sharing for a limited period and expanded eligibility options. Its attachments…
Operating instructions for temporary Federal Additional Compensation Unknown
ETA instructed states on eligibility, payments, financing, and reporting for the temporary federally funded $25 weekly Federal Additional Compensation benefit. Its attachments provide operating and…
2009 poverty guidelines for SCSEP Withdrawn
ETA issued the 2009 federal poverty and 125-percent low-income guidelines for Senior Community Service Employment Program eligibility, effective January 23, 2009. The letter expressly rescinded TEGL…
Revised Work Opportunity Tax Credit forms Withdrawn
ETA announced OMB approval of revised Work Opportunity Tax Credit reporting and processing forms and transmitted instructions for state workforce agencies. Change 1 later extended use of the prior…
Credit available against prevailing wages for apprenticeship training trust payments
A public works contractor asked whether it could credit its full $0.60/hour training trust contribution — more than the $0.45/hour specified in the prevailing wage determination — against its…
Hands-on training in HAZWOPER programs
OSHA clarified that interactive or video training can be part of a 24- or 40-hour HAZWOPER program, but cannot be the sole training method. Trainees must physically don, doff, touch and manipulate…
Voluntary time off offered to exempt employees does not trigger reporting pay
An employer asked DLS whether its Voluntary Time Off (VTO) policy — under which employees who report to work may choose, entirely on their own initiative, not to work that day — triggers the…
Nontaxable pension rollovers and unemployment benefits
ETA explained a federal amendment barring states from reducing unemployment compensation because of a pension rollover that is excluded from gross income. It said treatment of taxable distributions…
Homebuilder supervisors and the administrative exemption Withdrawn
A requester asked whether homebuilder employees who supervise construction of multiple homes qualify for an FLSA exemption. WHD referred the requester to an attached opinion, but that attachment is…
Volunteer fire company and paid EMT joint employment Withdrawn
A volunteer fire company asked whether EMTs hired through a contractor could also volunteer for it. WHD said the answer depended on whether the company jointly employed the paid EMTs and that the…
Administrative exemption for product demonstration coordinators Withdrawn
A product demonstration employer asked whether coordinators who plan projects, manage demonstrators, and resolve important issues meet the administrative exemption. WHD said the described…
Salary deductions for full-day absences Withdrawn
An employer asked how to deduct salary for an exempt worker who misses a full workday when paid leave is insufficient. WHD said a permissible full-day deduction may be proportionate to the scheduled…
FLSA exemptions for fraud investigation staff Withdrawn
An employer asked whether several fraud and theft investigation positions qualify for overtime exemptions. WHD found the two analyst roles did not meet the administrative duties test, while the…
Administrative exemptions for health staffing roles Withdrawn
A health staffing company asked whether its consultants, coordinators, and business development managers qualify for the administrative exemption. WHD said the described roles met the duties test,…
Daily job bonuses in the overtime regular rate Withdrawn
An oilfield service employer asked whether a flat daily job bonus for equipment operators belonged in the overtime regular rate. WHD said it did because the bonus was pay for employment and did not…
Administrative exemption for residential project supervisors Withdrawn
WHD considered whether a residential construction project supervisor qualified for the administrative exemption. WHD said the described supervisor's significant independent decisions met the…
Outside sales and administrative exemptions for insurance agents
A life insurance trade association asked whether two kinds of insurance agents qualify for FLSA exemptions. WHD said agents whose main duty is making sales through regular in-person visits away from…
Year-end percentage bonus and overtime pay Withdrawn
An employer asked whether it could omit payments already excluded from the regular rate when calculating a year-end bonus set as a percentage of straight-time and overtime earnings. WHD said it…
Administrative exemption for insurance client managers Withdrawn
An insurance agency asked whether client service managers who advise customers on coverage and bind contracts qualify for the FLSA administrative exemption. WHD said the described managers met the…
Full-day salary deductions for an on-call nurse Withdrawn
A hospital asked whether it could calculate an exempt on-call nurse's full-day salary deduction from the scheduled hours missed. WHD said it could when the full-day deduction was otherwise…
Sunday premiums under the fluctuating workweek method Withdrawn
An employer asked whether a fixed salary plus Sunday and holiday premiums could comply with the fluctuating workweek overtime method. The enclosed 2009 opinion said the proposed plan could comply…
Tip credit for dual jobs and related duties Withdrawn
A requester asked WHD to clarify when a tip credit could apply to related duties performed by tipped workers. The enclosed 2009 opinion proposed a test based on listed O*NET tasks performed…
Federal tip credit where state law bars tip credits Withdrawn
A restaurant association asked whether the FLSA allowed a federal tip credit when a state set a lower minimum wage but barred tip credits. The enclosed 2009 opinion said a credit for the gap between…
Nondiscretionary safety bonuses and overtime
An employer asked whether its nondiscretionary safety bonus plan met FLSA overtime requirements. WHD said it did because workers received the bonus for regular hours and one-and-a-half times the…
Nonprofit coverage and a payroll leasing company
A private nonprofit asked whether using a covered employee leasing company made the nonprofit itself subject to FLSA enterprise coverage or joint-employer overtime duties. WHD said the leasing…
Transit authority firefighters and regular-rate exclusions
A public transportation authority asked whether its firefighters qualified for the FLSA's partial public-safety overtime exemption and how two leave-related payments affected the regular rate. WHD…
PTO deductions during low patient census
A health care employer asked whether it could charge exempt employees' PTO banks for periods of low patient census, then reduce salary in full- day increments after PTO ran out. WHD said PTO-bank…
On-call and emergency travel pay for water workers
A water service district asked whether it must pay workers for on-call periods, emergency response work, and travel to call-outs. WHD said the described on-call restrictions were too light to make…
Compressed nine-day schedule and fixed workweeks
An employer asked whether a nine-day schedule across a two-week pay period complied with FLSA overtime rules. WHD said the plan complied because each employee would have a fixed 168-hour workweek,…
Foreign labor certification grant allocations Withdrawn
ETA allocated foreign labor certification grant funds to state workforce agencies for January 1 through March 6, 2009 under the continuing resolution. Its official expiration date was March 6, 2009,…
Overtime under a percentage-of-bid pay plan
A residential contractor asked whether a pay plan based on a percentage of each project's labor bid satisfied overtime rules. WHD said the method for employees working between 40 and 55 hours failed…
Guaranteed weekly pay for gasoline-station staff
A gasoline station proposed fixed weekly salaries for mechanics, attendants, tow-truck drivers, and dispatchers and asked whether the plan met the FLSA's irregular-hours exception. WHD said it did…
Required study time after city training classes
A city asked whether employees must be paid for homework assigned in required job training, even when completed after work. WHD said the study time was compensable because the assignments were…
Voluntary and mandatory time off for exempt employees
An employer asked whether it could reduce exempt employees' salaries during short-term staffing cuts. WHD said mandatory time off of less than a full workweek caused by business needs could not…
At-home prerequisites for voluntary job training
A communications company asked whether technicians had to be paid for required web-based prerequisite classes taken at home before a voluntary job-related training course. WHD said the prerequisite…
Barbacks as tipped employees
A restaurant asked whether a barback who receives tips from bartenders, rather than directly from customers, can be a tipped employee. WHD said yes on the described facts because the barback…
Caterer at a recreational site and the seasonal exemption
A caterer asked whether it could use the FLSA exemption available to a seasonal recreational establishment whose site it served. WHD said no: the caterer operated as a separate establishment and was…
Teacher exemption for public school coaches Withdrawn
A public school asked whether community coaches were volunteers or exempt teachers. WHD said coaches whose main duty was teaching sports skills qualified for the teacher exemption, assuming they…
Program year 2009 performance negotiations Withdrawn
ETA gave states guidelines for negotiating program year 2009 WIA and Wagner-Peyser performance and customer satisfaction goals, with an option to extend program year 2008 goals. It expressly…
Exemptions for civilian helicopter pilots Withdrawn
A state police division asked whether civilian helicopter pilots qualified for executive, administrative, or learned professional overtime exemptions. WHD said the described piloting duties met none…
Retail-service exemption for plumbing technicians Withdrawn
A plumbing service employer asked whether its commissioned technicians could use the retail or service establishment overtime exemption. WHD said the described business had a retail character and…
On-call time for county ambulance workers Withdrawn
A county ambulance service asked whether staff waiting on call had to be paid. WHD said the described waiting periods were not compensable because employees could use the time for personal pursuits,…
Learned professional exemption for company pilots
A company asked whether its jet and helicopter pilots qualified for the learned professional exemption. WHD said piloting did not meet that duties test; the chief pilot might separately qualify as…
Seasonal exemption for town beach lifeguards
A town asked whether seasonal lifeguards at its public beach qualified for the FLSA amusement or recreational establishment exemption. WHD said they did on the stated facts: the beach was a distinct…
Administrative exemption for convention sales manager
A city agency asked whether a convention and visitors sales manager qualified for an FLSA exemption. WHD said the described marketing and promotional work met the administrative duties test and…
Retroactive overtime under a fixed-salary arrangement
An employer that reclassified salaried workers as nonexempt asked how to calculate back overtime pay. WHD accepted the proposed half-time method on the stated facts because a fixed salary covered…
Required vacation use during a short plant shutdown
An employer asked whether it could require exempt workers to use accrued vacation during a plant shutdown shorter than a workweek. WHD said it could debit leave banks without losing the salary-basis…
OSHA review of Icynene insulation safety data sheets
OSHA reviewed safety data sheets for a two-part spray insulation system and said they met the 2009 Hazard Communication Standard. It distinguished the raw-material sheets needed for installation…
Fall protection and lanyards in aerial lifts
OSHA said a shock-absorbing lanyard whose minimum anchor height exceeds the lift’s working height cannot be used because the system must prevent contact with a lower level. A self-retracting lanyard…
Calendar year 2009 interest rate on federal unemployment advances Withdrawn
ETA announced a 4.6375 percent interest rate for calendar year 2009 federal Title XII advances to state unemployment funds. It also summarized when states must pay interest and certain exceptions or…
EPPA polygraph exemption for air-cargo security
WHD clarified that the EPPA section 7(e) polygraph exemption may apply to security services for air-cargo transporters when the services partly protect against hijacking or terrorism. It said…
Bank affiliate deposits by collective investment funds Unknown
A bank trustee asked whether placing collective fund cash in its affiliate bank’s deposit account would violate ERISA transaction rules. EBSA said the described deposits qualified for a statutory…
State-required child care training and hours worked
A child care operator asked whether after-hours state certification training it offered to staff counted as paid work time. WHD said it did not on the described facts: attendance was voluntary,…
Cost-of-living increases for retirement benefits affecting unemployment claims Rescinded
ETA told states with applicable laws to review unemployment claims affected by 2009 increases in Social Security annuities and federal civilian pensions. Its attachment gave prorated pension…
Employee call-in rules for FMLA leave
An employer asked whether its ordinary absence-reporting rules could apply to employees seeking FMLA leave. WHD said usual notice procedures could be enforced when practicable, except when unusual…
Respirators and protective clothing for Class III asbestos work
OSHA reaffirmed that wet Class III asbestos work involving gaskets or other non-thermal, non-surfacing materials does not require respirators or protective clothing after a valid negative exposure…
HAZWOPER training for fire investigators
OSHA corrected an error in a 2004 interpretation and said HAZWOPER responder training generally does not apply when a fire investigator arrives after an emergency has ended to examine debris. Other…
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.