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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Steel erection rule and tilt-up concrete structures
A trainer asked whether a note in the steel-erection rule brings entire tilt-up or lift-slab concrete structures under that rule. OSHA said no: concrete construction falls under the concrete…
Minimum disaster unemployment benefit amounts for July–September 2002 Withdrawn
ETA gave state workforce agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from July 1 through September 30, 2002. The table lists each…
Timing of H-2A worker housing inspections Withdrawn
ETA told state workforce agencies to inspect employer-provided H-2A housing early enough for certifying officers to receive compliance documentation before issuing labor certifications. It stated…
Home health aide split shifts: off-duty gaps and inter-client travel
A home health agency asked about a split-shift aide who works 8-10 a.m., goes home, then returns for a 3-11 p.m. shift, and about a different aide who travels roughly 15 minutes between client…
State and Social Security data exchange through ICON
ETA described a project for state unemployment agencies and Social Security to verify claimant identity, pensions, wages and benefit payments through the Interstate Connection Network. The letter…
Final revised PY 2001 dislocated worker allotments Withdrawn
ETA announced the Secretary’s final determination reducing Program Year 2001 dislocated worker funding by $177.5 million. Its attachment lists each state’s revised allotment and explains how the…
Use of aluminum hard hats around electrical hazards
A delivery worker asked if an aluminum hard hat was acceptable on industrial and construction sites. OSHA said it was acceptable for the described situation, but unsafe where the worker might…
Labor Code section 233: sick leave to attend to family
An HR consultant asked three questions about California's "kin care" law, Labor Code section 233: whether it covers public employers, whether a collective bargaining agreement addressing sick leave…
Air-supplied hoods and ventilation in recirculating paint booths
A manufacturer asked if air-supplied hoods could protect workers in a recirculating paint booth operating under an NFPA fire standard. OSHA said employers must first use feasible engineering or…
Generic circuit breaker lockout devices Unknown
An OSHA region asked whether generic circuit breaker switch lockouts meet lockout hardware rules. OSHA said they are protective hardware and must satisfy durability and secure-attachment…
Lockout requirements during packaging machine tool changes Unknown
An operator asked if a lockable emergency stop could substitute for repeated lockout during machine tool changes. OSHA said the work appeared covered by lockout rules unless a narrow minor-servicing…
Effective date of Reed Act software reimbursement clarification Withdrawn
ETA changed the effective date of UIPL 39-97, Change 1, from September 12, 1997 to July 1, 2002. That earlier change let states treat certain software costing $1 million or more as an ADP…
Employer: definition of employer
Two attorneys litigating a wage claim jointly asked the Labor Commissioner's hearing officer to clarify the legal basis for a prior award holding both a corporation and its individual officer…
Temporary corrugated plastic covers over live electrical parts Unknown
An OSHA region asked if easily removable corrugated plastic covers could replace permanent covers on electrical panels during construction. OSHA said no for the described product: unqualified…
Overtime: commission pay plans
An employer of commissioned inside salespersons paid a base salary plus monthly commissions under Wage Order 2 asked about overtime obligations. DLSE explained that these employees don't qualify for…
Proof tests for custom lifting frames and shipping frames
A contractor asked whether custom lifting and shipping frames for power generation modules require proof tests. OSHA said each custom lifting accessory used in construction must be marked and tested…
Commission calculations
A commissioned coffee salesperson asked about his employer's plan that debited 50% of any invoice unpaid after 90 days from his commission account, and that limited commissions at termination to…
Tardiness
A manufacturing employer's counsel described a proposed plan to refuse to let late-arriving employees clock in until the top of the next hour, so they'd be paid for less than eight hours. DLSE…
Salesperson exemption (Orders 4 and 7)
An attorney argued that IWC Order 7's coverage of "commodities" sales didn't extend to insurance agents, and separately questioned whether an insurance agent's pay was really a "commission" as…
Coverage of California wage laws
An attorney asked whether California wage and wage-payment laws apply to an employee under a written contract for 18-24 months of overseas work, depending on whether any work was performed in…
Fit testing and medical evaluation for filtering facepiece respirators
An insurer asked whether workers using filtering facepiece respirators need fit tests and repeated medical monitoring. OSHA said required tight-fitting facepieces need a fit test before use and at…
Disposal of blood tube holders with contaminated needles
An infection-control practitioner asked whether a blood tube holder could be reused after removing its used needle. OSHA said removing a contaminated needle is rarely required by a medical procedure…
NAFTA-TAA confidential data request form Rescinded
ETA sent state administrators the approved Form 9043 for collecting confidential company information during NAFTA trade adjustment assistance investigations. The five-page form asks about layoffs,…
WIA award identifiers and financial reporting for pooled funds Withdrawn
ETA told grant recipients which federal assistance catalog numbers applied to WIA awards in specified years and how to report pooled adult, youth and dislocated worker funds. It suggested allocating…
Denied Claims Accuracy questions for UI benefit audits Withdrawn
ETA answered 33 state questions about investigating and coding denied unemployment claims in its Benefit Accuracy Measurement program. The answers address wage verification, sampling, denial…
Off-duty city police working for a development authority
A city asked whether police officers’ off-duty security work for a downtown development authority counted toward the city’s overtime obligation. WHD said the authority and city appeared separate and…
Independent broker commissions under mutual-fund exemption Unknown
A requester asked whether a plan’s exchange-traded purchase or sale of mutual-fund shares through an independent broker breached prohibited transaction exemption 77-4’s sales-commission condition.…
ESOP purchase of employer stock from trustee-held accounts Unknown
A bank trustee asked whether an employee stock ownership plan could buy its parent company’s shares from personal trusts and estates it also served. EBSA said the described shares were qualifying…
Child-support agency named to receive pension payments Unknown
Mississippi’s child-support agency asked whether a domestic relations order could direct a pension plan to pay support to the agency for the child. EBSA said the agency’s role as the child’s agent…
Nearby toilets for mobile construction crews
A worker asked what nearby means in the toilet rule’s exception for mobile construction crews. OSHA said the exception is for crews moving frequently among jobsites with transport readily available;…
Protective gear and section 3(o) in meat packing Withdrawn
A meat-packing employer asked WHD to reconsider earlier views on protective equipment under FLSA section 3(o). The 2002 letter said typical protective gear could count as clothes, while washing…
Career firefighters volunteering for independent rescue departments
A county asked whether career firefighters and paramedics could volunteer for local nonprofit fire and rescue companies without adding those hours to county paid work. WHD said the separate…
Holiday pay for a day off doesn't count as hours worked toward overtime
An employer asked whether an employee who worked 36 hours in a week and also received 8 hours of holiday pay for a day off, both at the same straight-time rate, is owed any overtime for that week.…
Short off-schedule meetings require actual-hours pay unless a three-hour session was expected
An employer asked whether the "reporting pay" three-hour rule (455 C.M.R. §2.03(1)(a)) applies when it calls an employee in on a day off, or outside normal hours, for a workplace interview or…
Tuberculosis testing policy for home healthcare workers Unknown
A healthcare accreditor asked if OSHA’s tuberculosis directive required two-step testing for home healthcare workers. OSHA said the directive guided General Duty Clause enforcement at listed…
Interim respirator protection factors for selected pharmaceutical use Unknown
OSHA instructed its field offices to treat nine specified respirators as having an assigned protection factor of 1,000 for pharmaceutical particulate exposure when properly equipped and used. The…
Alternative workweek: reduction of pay not allowed
A dialysis-clinic worker wrote to DLSE's public info line after her hourly rate was cut twice as her employer moved her from an 8-hour training schedule to 10-hour and then 12-hour shifts, each time…
Comprehensive WIA youth services for Program Year 2002 Withdrawn
ETA guided state and local workforce programs on youth services in Program Year 2002. It emphasized performance measures, recruiting and retaining out-of-school youth, involving community…
Participant loan repayments becoming ERISA plan assets Unknown
A requester asked when employee loan repayments withheld by an employer become ERISA plan assets. EBSA said the earliest date the amounts can reasonably be segregated from the employer’s general…
Semimonthly pay periods for nonexempt salaried employees
An employer paid non-exempt salaried employees semimonthly and listed a flat 86.67 "averaged" hours per pay period on wage statements rather than the actual, varying hours worked. DLSE held this…
Training non-electrical inspectors at power facilities
A utility contractor asked what training non-electrical workers need to open restricted equipment for visual inspection. OSHA said those workers may be trained as qualified for their limited duties,…
Minor-servicing exception for machine shop tool changes Unknown
A one-person machine shop asked whether routine tool changes needed lockout. OSHA said such servicing generally falls under the rule unless the minor-servicing or cord-and-plug exceptions apply,…
Reauthorization of WOTC and welfare-to-work tax credits Rescinded
ETA announced that Congress had extended the Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work tax credits retroactively for hires from January 2002 through December 2003. It described the new New York Liberty…
Ground-fault protection for 240-volt construction circuits
A builders group asked whether the construction ground-fault rule applies to 240-volt circuits. OSHA said yes for outlet circuits: employers must use a suitable GFCI or assured equipment grounding…
Advance notice of revised PY 2001 dislocated worker allotments Withdrawn
ETA gave states advance notice of Congress's enacted $177.5 million rescission of Program Year 2001 dislocated worker funds, including $110 million from state formula allotments. ETA proposed each…
Final PY 2002 Wagner-Peyser and reemployment allotments Withdrawn
ETA published each state's final 2002 Wagner-Peyser basic labor exchange allotment and revised reemployment services allotment. It explained the statutory formula, a three-percent set-aside, and why…
Calculating FMLA leave for part-time and variable schedules
WHD explained how to count FMLA leave for employees with part-time or variable schedules. The entitlement is measured in workweeks, and only leave actually taken counts against it; the employee’s…
A nonprofit's job-readiness construction training program is exempt from the wage law
A registered nonprofit charity asked whether participants in its 10-month job-readiness and construction-skills program — which pairs supervised construction work with GED preparation and pays a…
Suggested administrative uses of the 2002 Reed Act distribution
ETA suggested ways states could use part of their 2002 Reed Act distribution for unemployment insurance and employment service administration. Examples included modernizing computer systems,…
FY 2002 unemployment insurance GPRA goals Withdrawn
ETA revised its FY 2002 unemployment insurance performance goals to measure national aggregate first-payment timeliness and new employer tax-status determinations. It set targets of 91% of…
Disciplinary deductions from an exempt employee's salary
An attorney e-mailed DLSE's Info Web Site asking whether an employer may dock a full week's pay from an exempt employee for disciplinary reasons, or deduct a lesser amount such as one or two days'…
The three-hour reporting-pay rule doesn't apply to a regularly-scheduled short on-call shift
An HVAC company asked whether the "three-hour rule" (455 C.M.R. §2.03(1)(a)) requires paying an on-call technician for three hours when a call-in repair takes only one hour to complete. DLS…
Riding a company truck to a job site: three scenarios on compensable travel time
An employer whose workers travel to job sites that change daily asked about the compensability of riding in company trucks in three scenarios: optional rides straight to the job site, required trips…
Roofing product storage guidance with struck fall-protection passage Unknown
A roofing-product maker asked OSHA to evaluate several rooftop storage accessories. OSHA declined to approve specific products but said they appeared useful for meeting material storage and…
Exempt employee: pro rata salary deduction on a 4-day workweek
A trade association asked, on behalf of a member, how much to deduct from an exempt employee's leave bank if that employee had voluntarily arranged to work only 4 days (about 10 hours each) per week…
H-2A transportation reimbursement when workers change jobs Rescinded
ETA explained which employer bore return transportation costs when an H-2A or U.S. worker moved to another job after completing a contract. It distinguished later H-2A work from jobs outside the…
Applications for WIA Section 503 incentive grants, PY 2000 Withdrawn
ETA explained how eligible states could apply for incentive grants based on their 2000 performance in workforce, adult education and vocational education programs. Applications needed state…
Car dealership repair mechanics qualify for the 'garageman' overtime exemption
An employer asked whether hourly wage mechanics working at car dealerships qualify for the overtime exemption for a "garageman" under M.G.L. c. 151, §1A(15), a term the statute leaves undefined. DLS…
Ladder wheel accessory and ladder use limits
A maker asked whether removable wheels may be attached to a ladder for transport. OSHA said the described accessory is not barred if it does not damage the ladder and is removed before ladder use.…
In-house training for industrial fire brigades
A manufacturer asked whether its fire brigade must attend a named academy or could receive on-site instruction. OSHA said in-house instruction can meet the rule if its quality is comparable to the…
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.