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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Workers in a trench box while a backhoe lowers materials
A contractor asked whether a worker could stay in a trench box while a backhoe lowered pipe. OSHA said a worker cannot be underneath the load. A worker elsewhere in the trench box may remain only if…
Foreign labor certification grants for December 2007 CR Withdrawn
ETA gave state workforce agencies their alien labor certification grant allocations under the continuing resolution running December 15 through December 21, 2007. The attached table lists each state…
WIA funds for workforce and economic development Withdrawn
ETA explained which workforce development activities could be paid for with Workforce Investment Act funds as part of regional economic development strategies. It distinguished training and…
Podium ladder classified as a mobile scaffold
A construction company asked which rules governed a pictured podium ladder. OSHA said the device’s raised work platform made it a scaffold, so the scaffold rules applied; casters also triggered…
Hazardous-waste driver training and equivalent HAZWOPER training
A Vermont town asked if a driver hauling contaminated soil needed further HAZWOPER training. OSHA said coverage may not apply if the employer can show no exposure or reasonable possibility of…
Foreign labor certification grants for November 2007 CR Withdrawn
ETA advised state workforce agencies of alien labor certification grant allocations under the continuing resolution running November 17 through December 14, 2007. The attached table lists…
Working from a portable stepladder and fall protection
A construction safety consultant asked whether workers could work from portable stepladders and needed fall protection while on them. OSHA said working from a stepladder is not categorically barred,…
Suspended crane spreader bars, tag lines, and welding cable lugs Unknown
A construction employer asked if an operator could leave a spreader bar suspended, when tag lines were needed, and what a welding-cable lug rule covered. Under the crane provisions cited in 2007,…
Limited outsourcing of unemployment claims intake
ETA said states may outsource the rote collection of information for unemployment claims when the contractor does not provide eligibility advice or exercise substantial discretion. Questions and…
H-2A application processing procedures, Change 1 Rescinded
ETA revised its H-2A labor certification processing instructions for state workforce agencies and national processing centers, covering filing, worker referrals, and housing. The letter rescinded…
Outdoor asbestos gasket work and glove-bag controls
A contractor asked whether outdoor work on asbestos-containing gaskets escaped glove-bag requirements. OSHA said indoor and outdoor Class III work share exposure-control requirements; particular…
Fixed-ladder cage enforcement and historical citation counts Unknown
A correspondent asked if OSHA enforced former fixed-ladder cage diagram provisions and how often it had cited them. OSHA said those provisions could be cited and gave citation and fatality counts…
Asbestos Class III and IV training for building maintenance
A building owner asked whether maintenance contractors trained only for Class IV asbestos work needed Class III training. OSHA said separate groups can work at one site, but anyone likely to disturb…
Foreign labor certification grants for October 2007 CR Withdrawn
ETA advised state workforce agencies of alien labor certification grant allocations under the continuing resolution running October 1 through November 16, 2007. The attachment lists state…
Use of Polygraphs in Certain Employment Situations
This Field Operations Manual chapter covers Virginia's law banning most polygraph ("lie detector") tests of law-enforcement employees, with a narrow exception: an agency's chief executive can…
Administrative exemption applicable to IT managers/supervisors — no determination, general guidance
A law firm asked whether three IT department supervisors (help desk, systems administration, and reporting) at a national equipment-rental company qualify for the administrative exemption from…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for late 2007 Withdrawn
ETA sent states minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared October 1 through December 31, 2007. Its attachment lists state calculations based on average…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance benefit amounts, October–December 2007 Withdrawn
ETA gave state workforce agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared during October through December 2007, based on each jurisdiction's average…
WIA incentive and sanction policy Withdrawn
ETA revised how state Workforce Investment Act Title I performance results affected incentive grants and sanctions. It explained performance measures, reporting, corrective action, and appeals. The…
Two qualified workers at an energized pad-mounted transformer Unknown
An electrical union asked whether one employee could install or repair secondary cable in an energized transformer where contact with higher-voltage parts was possible. OSHA said the described work…
Safety needles for patients who self-infuse at home
A pharmacy supplier asked if it had to ship safety needles for patients who self-infuse or for outside home-health professionals. OSHA said its rule protects employees, so it did not require safety…
Disaster unemployment benefit amounts for late 2006 Superseded
ETA sent state workforce agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October through December 2006. The original table gave the…
Military spouses as WIA dislocated workers, Change 1
ETA clarified that a military spouse’s loss of work after a service member’s permanent reassignment or discharge can satisfy both the termination and 'unlikely to return' parts of the Workforce…
FY 2008 TAA base allocations and reserve funds Withdrawn
ETA explained the formula for states’ fiscal 2008 Trade Adjustment Assistance training allocations and the process for requesting additional reserve funds. The letter also addressed job-search and…
PY 2008 substantial-unemployment area designations Withdrawn
ETA asked states to submit their areas of substantial unemployment for calculating Program Year 2008 Workforce Investment Act allotments. It gave the threshold, reference period, data rules, and…
A seasonal amusement park may separately claim the seasonal-business overtime waiver for a winter attraction
A seasonal amusement park, already exempt from state overtime under the 150-day amusement-park exemption, asked DLS whether it could add a winter holiday light display without jeopardizing that…
Fall-arrest lanyard anchored at a worker’s feet
A contractor asked whether a named lanyard could comply when anchored at a worker’s feet. OSHA declined to approve the product and said foot-level anchorage is not categorically prohibited. The…
Optional online requests for state unemployment fund loans Unknown
ETA told states they could request Title XII unemployment fund advances and make voluntary repayments through its optional Loan and Repayment Application System instead of mailed letters. The…
UI program performance goals for fiscal 2006–2008 Withdrawn
ETA reported how the unemployment insurance program performed against fiscal 2006 federal goals and announced targets for fiscal 2007 and 2008. An attachment breaks out state results for the…
Object-detecting backup alarms on construction equipment
A construction company asked whether a backup alarm that sounds only when it detects an object or person behind equipment could meet OSHA’s reverse-alarm rule. OSHA said it could, if it reliably…
HAZWOPER trainer qualifications and in-house courses
An environmental services company asked OSHA to assess three proposed HAZWOPER trainers and an in-house course. OSHA said it does not certify trainers or programs; the employer must ensure trainers…
Trainer qualifications and in-house HAZWOPER training Unknown
An environmental services company asked whether three employees could teach HAZWOPER courses and whether it could train workers in-house. OSHA said it does not certify trainers or programs; the…
Payments and volunteer status for public firefighters
A city asked whether tuition, insurance, retirement contributions and stipends would affect the FLSA status of volunteer firefighters and drivers. WHD accepted the tuition and described benefits as…
Executive exemption for livestock field inspectors
A cattle-producer association asked whether field inspectors managing permanent districts qualified for an FLSA exemption. WHD said the described inspectors met the executive exemption because they…
Difference between a column and a post in steel erection
An engineer asked when a vertical steel support is a column rather than a post. OSHA said a post must fit one of two defined loading and weight conditions. Height and the magnitude of the applied…
Work Opportunity Tax Credit reauthorization Withdrawn
ETA told state workforce agencies how to process Work Opportunity Tax Credit certification requests after the 2007 reauthorization and related program changes. It covered the designated community…
Whether pre-employment state-mandated security officer training time is compensable
A trade association for licensed security guard companies asked whether members must pay applicants for the state-mandated classroom training (up to 40 hours) required to become a registered…
FLSA exemptions for a court reporter
WHD considered whether a court reporter qualified for the FLSA's executive, administrative or professional exemptions. It found that the described job met none of the three duties tests, so the…
Rail welfare trust as a MEWA not fully insured Unknown
A rail-employer welfare trust asked whether its arrangement was a fully insured multiple employer welfare arrangement. EBSA said it was a MEWA but the certificate did not unconditionally guarantee…
State leasing law and federal MEWA status Unknown
Nevada’s attorney general asked whether a state employee-leasing amendment changed a health arrangement’s multiple employer welfare arrangement status. EBSA said MEWA status is determined under…
Youth literacy and numeracy reporting, Change 1 Rescinded
ETA changed the literacy and numeracy reporting measure for youth workforce programs, with revised educational level descriptors and reporting tables in four attachments. It revised TEGL 17-05 on…
Submitting state unemployment law materials on Form MA 8-7 Unknown
ETA reduced the categories of state unemployment law and program materials that states must submit to the Department using Form MA 8-7, and supplied the form and instructions. It rescinded an older…
Lids and secondary containers for operating-room regulated waste
A healthcare correspondent asked whether an operating-room regulated-waste receptacle needed a cover. OSHA said the container must be closable, but need not stay closed while actively in use; it…
Combustion-turbine confined-space reclassification and isolation
A worker asked whether a combustion turbine and exhaust duct could be reclassified as a non-permit confined space after shutdown. OSHA said potential atmospheric hazards from leaking fuel valves and…
Postal Service protective footwear and hazard assessments Unknown
A postal union asked whether OSHA had exempted postal facilities from protective-footwear requirements. OSHA said it could not trace the claimed statement and described no blanket variance.…
PY 2007 SCSEP application instructions and allotments Withdrawn
ETA instructed Senior Community Service Employment Program grantees on Program Year 2007 grant applications, allotments, and requirements under the 2006 Older Americans Act amendments. Six…
Federal equity in state employment property
ETA explained procedures for transferring federal equity in state real property acquired with Wagner-Peyser or unemployment compensation grant funds under a 2007 amendment. The letter addresses…
Interrupted hepatitis B vaccination series for exposed workers Unknown
A healthcare employer asked whether a new worker’s partly completed hepatitis B vaccination series had to start again. OSHA said the employer must provide vaccination at no cost to exposed employees…
HAZWOPER refresher training for agricultural emergency responders
A training center asked whether an eight-hour agricultural emergency-response course met annual HAZWOPER refresher requirements. OSHA said it might for operations-level and technician responders if…
Administrative funding limits for disaster unemployment assistance Unknown
ETA told states that FEMA requires advance coordination for paid disaster assistance announcements and prior approval when administration costs exceed 15 percent of requested benefits. It said FEMA…
Fit-testing full-facepiece powered air-purifying respirators
A respirator provider asked which fit test is required for a full-facepiece powered air-purifying respirator. OSHA said either qualitative or quantitative fit testing may be used for…
Apprenticeship program reimbursements to unions Unknown
An elevator industry education program asked whether reimbursing local unions for tuition they advanced for members' welding programs would violate ERISA transaction rules. EBSA said the described…
Small-farm standards and appropriations-based enforcement limit Unknown
A consultant asked whether an appropriations restriction erased OSHA standards for small farms. OSHA said the standards still applied, but the then-current law restricted enforcement at qualifying…
Fiscal year 2008 reemployment and eligibility assessment grants Withdrawn
ETA invited state agencies to propose continuing or new Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment programs for fiscal year 2008, with conditions on use of funds and proposal attachments. ETA now lists…
Biomedical technicians and SCA conformance
WHD reviewed a request to add biomedical engineering technician classifications to a federal service-contract wage determination. It found the request deficient and the technicians’ work within…
Registered Apprenticeship in workforce programs Withdrawn
ETA encouraged workforce boards and agencies to integrate Registered Apprenticeship into Workforce Investment Act training strategies. The letter described apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship,…
Fiscal year 2008 state unemployment resource planning targets Withdrawn
ETA provided state agencies preliminary fiscal year 2008 dollar and staffing targets for unemployment administration and explained the allocation method. Three attachments give state allocations,…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefits for July through September 2007 Withdrawn
ETA sent states minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared July 1 through September 30, 2007. Its attachment lists state calculations based on average…
The three-hour reporting-pay rule doesn't apply to shifts scheduled under three hours
An employer asked DLS how the "three-hour rule" reporting-pay requirement applies to employees scheduled to work less than three hours. DLS explained the rule only guarantees at least three hours'…
PY 2006 customer satisfaction survey weights Withdrawn
ETA gave states updated weights for calculating Program Year 2006 customer satisfaction scores under the Workforce Investment Act. The attachment supplies the formula weights and the letter warns…
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.