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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Temporary catch platforms as scaffolds
OSHA classified temporary catch platforms as scaffolds because they are elevated temporary platforms that support an employee or material after a fall. The platforms therefore must meet applicable…
Temporary federal sharing for first week of Extended Benefits Unknown
ETA explained that a 2008 law temporarily allowed federal cost sharing for the first week of Extended Benefits or sharable regular compensation even in states that pay the first week of regular…
2009 locality pay rates for federal civilian employees Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies they could use federal 2009 General Schedule locality salary rates to estimate monetary entitlement or potentially disqualifying pay when a federal agency did…
2009 military pension cost-of-living increases Withdrawn
ETA gave states 2009 federal military retired pay cost-of-living percentages and directed states with pension-offset laws to identify affected unemployment claimants and apply state law. ETA now…
2009 military remuneration schedule for ex-servicemember claims Withdrawn
ETA instructed state agencies to use the attached 2009 federal remuneration schedule to determine military wages for Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers first claims beginning on or…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for January through March 2009 Withdrawn
ETA sent state agencies minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared January 1 through March 31, 2009. Its attachment lists state amounts based on average…
Questions on expanded 2008 emergency unemployment compensation Unknown
ETA answered state agencies’ questions about the 2008 emergency unemployment benefit expansion, including a second tier for states with high unemployment. It said inconsistent guidance in earlier…
WIA waivers for economic recovery Withdrawn
ETA described WIA and Wagner-Peyser waiver options that states could use in economic recovery strategies, including transfers between adult and dislocated worker funding streams. ETA now labels the…
Exempt store managers in promotion training
A retailer asked whether exempt store managers lose their exemption during a seven-week program preparing them for a higher management role. WHD said they did not on the described facts because the…
Customer-facing sushi and teppanyaki chefs in tip pools
A restaurant asked whether sushi and teppanyaki chefs who prepare and serve food directly to customers may join a mandatory tip pool. WHD said they could on the described facts because their…
Occupational therapist assistants and the professional exemption
A school district asked whether certified occupational therapist assistants could be treated as exempt professionals. WHD said no: their occupation did not require the prolonged specialized study…
Top-hat plan registration for a controlled employer group Unknown
An employer asked how a controlled group should identify employers when filing a registration statement for a single plan for selected executives. EBSA said one statement suffices if there is one…
Paid reserve police assignments and volunteer status
A police department asked whether a civilian victim specialist could also volunteer as a reserve officer while receiving ordinary police wages for some special assignments. WHD said those payments…
Volunteer firefighter stipends and nominal fees
A fire district asked whether monthly and per-call stipends would preserve workers' volunteer status. WHD could not decide definitively without local pay comparisons. It said the fee portion…
On-call time with rare call-backs
An employer asked whether an employee's on-call time counted as hours worked when the employee had to remain reachable, avoid alcohol, and report within an hour. WHD said the described period was…
Paid firefighter volunteering for the same department
A private nonprofit fire department asked whether its paid firefighters could work additional shifts for the same department without pay as volunteers. WHD said no because the unpaid work was the…
County EMTs volunteering for an independent rescue crew
A county asked whether its paid EMTs could volunteer for a local rescue crew doing similar work. WHD said they could because the crew remained a separate, independent nonprofit organization despite…
Program year 2009 state planning and waivers Rescinded
ETA instructed states how to extend WIA and Wagner-Peyser strategic plans and waivers through program year 2009. The letter rescinded TEGL 13-06 and was itself expressly rescinded by TEGL 14-08. ETA…
Noise audiogram baselines after a business changes owners
An employer asked whether it could establish new audiogram baselines after a change of ownership. OSHA said no for retained employees: the successor receives existing audiograms, including…
Foreign labor certification grants through 2008 Withdrawn
ETA allocated foreign labor certification grant funds to state workforce agencies for October 1 through December 31, 2008 under the fiscal year 2009 continuing resolution. Its official expiration…
One-time stress bonus and the overtime regular rate
A city asked whether its first stress-pay bonus for emergency communications workers could be excluded from the overtime regular rate even though a union agreement was signed before payment. WHD…
Teacher exemption for college athletic instructors
A college asked whether assistant athletic instructors qualified for the FLSA teacher exemption. WHD said the described instructors did because teaching student-athletes was their main duty at an…
Federal tax refund offsets for fraudulent unemployment debts
ETA explained the 2008 law permitting eligible unemployment compensation debts caused by fraud to be recovered from federal income tax refunds through the Treasury Offset Program. It described…
Wage deduction authorization for overpayments due to payroll practice
A law firm asked whether an employee's electronic timesheet reporting unpaid time off, submitted after a biweekly advance payment, counts as authorization to deduct the resulting overpayment from…
Compensability of time spent obtaining a federally mandated TWIC port-security card
A union attorney asked whether Shell refinery workers required to obtain a federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to access secure port areas must be paid for the time spent…
2008 expansion of emergency unemployment compensation Unknown
ETA instructed states how to implement the November 2008 expansion of emergency unemployment compensation: up to 20 first-tier weeks nationally and up to 13 second-tier weeks in states meeting…
Unprotected needles on prefilled influenza vaccine syringes Unknown
OSHA asked a vaccine manufacturer to replace 2008–09 prefilled syringes with fixed, unprotected needles in affected states. OSHA said healthcare employers had to evaluate and use sharps injury…
Removing contaminated scalpel blades safely
A device maker asked whether fingers or two-handed hemostat methods could remove used scalpel blades. OSHA said removal of a contaminated sharp is generally prohibited unless no alternative is…
Requalification of construction mobile crane operators Unknown
A contractor asked what tests a mobile crane operator needed for requalification. OSHA said the then-current incorporated crane code required an initial practical examination but did not specify…
Paying state for unemployment combined-wage claims
ETA explained a revised rule for choosing the paying state when a claimant combines employment and wages from more than one state. The claimant must have base-period employment and wages in the…
Use of workforce participant Social Security numbers
ETA told states when to request workforce participants' Social Security numbers for performance reporting and how to protect them. The letter says that refusing to provide a number generally cannot…
HAZWOPER training levels for firefighters
A fire council asked whether every firefighter needed first-responder operations training. OSHA said only those expected to respond to hazardous substance releases need that level; firefighters who…
Fiscal year 2009 TAA grant allocations Withdrawn
ETA described its fiscal year 2009 formula for state Trade Adjustment Assistance training allocations and the process for requesting reserve funds for training, job search and relocation allowances.…
Replacement uniforms damaged during personal use
A restaurant asked whether a tipped worker could pay for an extra replacement uniform damaged during personal use. WHD said the employer had met its duty if it provided enough required uniforms free…
Asbestos duties during work in a private home
A homeowner asked who must identify and control asbestos hazards during contracted flooring work. OSHA said its construction asbestos standard may apply to the contractor insofar as employees face…
Continuation of TAA and ATAA programs through March 2009 Unknown
On September 30, 2008, Congress temporarily extended the Trade Adjustment Assistance and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance programs. ETA told state workforce agencies to keep both programs…
Emergency benefit administration costs excluded from state funding model Withdrawn
ETA told state agencies that administrative costs paid by the temporary 2008 emergency unemployment grant could include properly allocated infrastructure and overhead, but those federally funded…
OSHA and PHMSA jurisdiction at underground gas storage sites Unknown
A consultant asked whether PHMSA pipeline rules displaced OSHA at geological gas or hazardous-liquid storage facilities. OSHA said displacement requires a case-specific regulation covering the…
Scaffold load rating for a generator support frame Unknown
A designer asked whether a generator frame carrying side scaffolds had to support four times the generator’s weight. OSHA said no: the scaffold components needed the rule’s fourfold load capacity,…
Teacher exemption for cosmetology school instructors
A private cosmetology school asked whether its licensed instructors qualified for the FLSA teacher exemption. WHD said they did because their main duty was teaching at an accredited educational…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for late 2008 Withdrawn
ETA sent state agencies minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared October 1 through December 31, 2008. Its attachment gives the state calculations. ETA now…
Animal charity income and FLSA enterprise coverage
An animal shelter asked which income counted toward the FLSA enterprise coverage threshold. WHD said charitable contributions, most membership dues, and donations used for charitable activities were…
Teacher exemption for daycare instructors
A daycare operator asked whether instructors teaching basic skills to children ages three to five were exempt teachers under the FLSA. WHD said the exemption depended on whether the daycare offered…
Sprinkler clearance above stored materials Unknown
A hospital worker asked how to apply the 18-inch clearance rule below sprinklers. OSHA treated it as a horizontal plane across the storage area, with limited circumstances for wall shelves, library…
Teacher exemption for substitute teachers
A school asked whether substitute teachers without a degree or teaching certificate could qualify for the FLSA teacher exemption. WHD said the described substitutes qualified because teaching and…
Chamber of commerce health program as separate ERISA plans Unknown
An Oregon chamber of commerce asked whether its member health program would be a single ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said the chamber membership did not provide the employer connection needed for one…
Process Safety Management at biodiesel plants Unknown
A consultant asked whether biodiesel plants fell under PSM. OSHA said coverage depends on threshold quantities of listed chemicals or flammable materials, including qualifying mixtures and residual…
WIA annual report narrative guidance Withdrawn
This change to TEGL 14-00 gave states additional instructions for the narrative part of their WIA annual reports and updated submission procedures. ETA now labels the change Canceled; its signed…
Asbestos no-smoking rule and background fibers
Nevada OSHA asked whether any background asbestos fibers made a work area subject to OSHA’s no-smoking rule. OSHA said the exposure must arise from work activities that disturb asbestos. The ban can…
On-call pay in the overtime regular rate
A city asked whether it could spread one week's on-call payments across a two-week payroll period when calculating overtime. WHD said no: on-call pay belonged in the regular rate for the workweek in…
Overtime for commission-paid dump-truck drivers
A trucking company asked how to calculate overtime for dump-truck drivers paid 27% of the revenue from their deliveries. Assuming the drivers were not covered by the motor-carrier or retail…
Detention officers volunteering as reserve deputies
A public agency asked whether detention officers could volunteer as reserve sheriff deputies. WHD said they could not do so for the same public agency because both roles involve public safety. It…
Electronic access to written OSHA safety programs
An employer asked whether safety programs required to be written could exist only on a company intranet. OSHA said paper or electronic format was acceptable if every other requirement of the…
Lead exposure assessment for low-lead paint
A contractor asked whether paint below the consumer-product 0.06% lead threshold avoided OSHA exposure assessment. OSHA said no: any lead-containing paint in covered construction work requires an…
Safety-engineered lancets for workplace blood sampling
A distributor asked whether exposed-blade lancets could be used for workplace finger-prick sampling. OSHA said healthcare employers generally must provide safety-engineered lancets unless…
Formaldehyde monitoring at trailer manufacturing plants Unknown
A senator asked about formaldehyde exposure in plants building post-hurricane trailers. OSHA described the action level, short-term limit and exposure monitoring requirements of its formaldehyde…
Federal unemployment tax reporting for disregarded entities Unknown
ETA told states that federal unemployment tax reporting for single-member LLCs and certain S corporation subsidiaries would move to the entity’s own name and employer ID for wages paid from January…
Acceptable military separation reasons for ex-servicemember claims Withdrawn
ETA updated the list of acceptable military separation reasons for Unemployment Compensation for Ex-servicemembers when a claimant had not completed a first full service term. Its attachment gives…
Customer satisfaction index weights Withdrawn
ETA supplied program year 2007 weights for computing state American Customer Satisfaction Index scores from participant and employer surveys. It expressly rescinded TEGL 1-07. ETA now labels this…
Railing heights for fixed industrial stairs Unknown
A railing manufacturer asked which fixed-stair designs met OSHA’s then-current height rule. OSHA said two appeared to meet the requirement and a 36–37 inch design did not, although it would treat…
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.