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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Denied claims accuracy reviews and interstate claims in BAM samples Withdrawn
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies to prepare accuracy reviews of claims denied for monetary, separation, and other nonmonetary reasons. It also described adding interstate paid claims to…
Electric utility tagout accountability and system-operator control
A utility association asked whether its group tagout process met the electric-power rule. OSHA said each authorized worker must take a distinct sign-on and sign-off step, though this need not happen…
Race and ethnicity coding in UI benefit accuracy reviews Withdrawn
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies to collect ethnicity and race separately in their Benefit Accuracy Measurement reviews, using a two-character code and allowing claimants to report…
Employee-owned IRAs and insurance-agent exemption Unknown
An insurer asked whether employees’ purchase of its individual retirement annuities was barred from prohibited transaction exemption 84-24 by an employer relationship. EBSA said the cited employer…
Ski industry employee compensation issues
The California Ski Industry Association asked DLSE a series of questions about compensation practices unique to ski resorts. DLSE explained: unpaid "volunteers" at for-profit resorts are generally…
Confined spaces and fall-arrest rigging in construction
A requester asked whether a general-industry confined-space advisor applied to construction and whether rigging slings and shackles could be part of fall arrest. OSHA said the advisor did not cover…
Farm labor contractor status
An attorney asked whether an "Agricultural Employer" that supplies vineyard labor along with plants, equipment, and materials — compensated by a share of the crop, a per-ton or per-acre rate, or…
Service charge in lieu of tip
An attorney for a private club asked whether an automatic 18% service charge added to members' bills — kept by the club, not distributed to staff — could be considered a gratuity under Labor Code…
Hepatitis B vaccine timing for collateral-duty AED responders
A federal medical director asked when volunteer AED responders must be offered hepatitis B vaccine. OSHA said its enforcement exception can allow vaccination after a blood-involving incident for…
Approval of distance training under the Trade Act of 1974 Withdrawn
ETA told state agencies that distance training could qualify as classroom training for Trade Adjustment Assistance if it was interactive and met four stated conditions, including tests and in-person…
Payment and timely decisions during continued UI claims
ETA told state unemployment agencies to keep paying weeks for which no eligibility issue exists, even when an earlier week is under review. For determinations during a continued claim series, the…
Alabama hospital authority retirement plans as governmental Unknown
An Alabama health authority asked whether its two employee retirement plans were governmental. EBSA cited county creation and control, public powers, tax support, and authority sponsorship to…
Verifying group lockout without a representative from every crew Unknown
A requester asked whether each work group must send someone to verify group lockout. OSHA said the rule did not require that if a primary authorized employee coordinated and verified isolation…
Revised interstate liable-agent data transfer record format Unknown
ETA revised the record format that states use to transfer interstate unemployment claims data. It separated race from ethnicity and specified where to enter NAICS industry and SOC occupation codes.…
UI data validation implementation plan in 2000 Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies how it expected to replace the old workload-validation system with a broader UI data-validation program. The letter invited states to start early, described a…
Disaster unemployment assistance weekly minimums for late 2000 Withdrawn
ETA gave state unemployment agencies the minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October 1 through December 31, 2000. The attachment lists each…
Mechanical roofing equipment near warning lines and safety monitors
A requester asked OSHA to classify roofing tools under its mechanical-equipment rule. OSHA said motor- or human-propelled wheeled equipment used for roofing is covered, except wheelbarrows and mop…
Excavation slopes, sheet piles, and benching during pile driving
A construction company asked how slope and sheet-pile requirements apply when driving piles in an excavated pit. OSHA said soil-class slopes under the excavation subpart govern, no general rule sets…
Recording injuries of temporary nurses and needlestick incidents Unknown
A long-term-care association asked who records injuries of temporary pool nurses and how needlesticks are recorded. OSHA emphasized actual day-to-day supervision rather than payroll or insurance…
Union job-loss benefit program as ERISA welfare plan Unknown
A transportation union asked whether its job benefit and income security program was outside ERISA as a strike fund. EBSA found benefits were paid for disciplinary suspension or discharge rather…
Employers may agree to regular part-time shifts under three hours, paid hour-for-hour
A vocational agency serving clients with traumatic brain injuries, some of whom can work only two hours a day, asked whether the regulation requiring at least three hours' pay whenever an employee…
Using new-hire reports to detect UI overpayments Unknown
ETA urged state unemployment agencies to use employer new-hire reports to identify claimants who had returned to work while still receiving benefits. The letter explains that new-hire data can flag…
Annuity contracts after sponsor reorganization Unknown
An insurer asked whether cloning or amending group annuity contracts at policyholders’ request after corporate reorganizations defeated transition-policy treatment. EBSA said the described contracts…
Cleaning shared first-responder medical equipment after hospital use
An infection-control consultant asked who must clean first responders’ equipment after a hospital uses it. OSHA said both employers must protect their own workers. A hospital could decontaminate the…
Compressed-air cleaning and temporary electrical wiring in construction Unknown
A safety consultant asked about the compressed-air cleaning exception and temporary electrical wiring. OSHA explained the exception’s rulemaking origin and answered questions about…
Employer payment for hearing protectors and replacements
A union asked who pays for hearing protectors under the noise standard. OSHA said employers must provide suitable protection at no cost to covered workers, offer a choice of types, ensure fitting…
Depositing federal income tax withheld from unemployment benefits Unknown
ETA warned state unemployment agencies that late deposits of federal income tax withheld from benefits had led to IRS penalties. It recommended daily tracking of tax liability, reporting penalty…
Whether Belo contracts are permissible under California law
An attorney asked whether "Belo-Type" or "Guarantee Wage" contracts — a federal Fair Labor Standards Act arrangement, from Walling v. A.H. Belo Corp. and codified at FLSA section 7(f), that lets…
Rollover protection for a construction dumper
An equipment company asked if its wheeled dumper needed a rollover protective structure. OSHA said the described vehicle was similar to a tractor under the construction earthmoving rule and…
Bloodborne-pathogen guidance for public-school athletic staff
A Texas school athletic trainer asked how bloodborne-pathogen rules apply to school trainers, student aides, and coaches handling soiled items. OSHA said federal OSHA did not cover that public…
New York firefighters supplemental fund as governmental Unknown
A firefighters supplemental benefit fund asked whether it was excluded from ERISA Title I. EBSA found statutory creation, city trustee participation, asset transfers from a city pension fund, and a…
Customer satisfaction surveys under WIA Title I Withdrawn
ETA gave states survey rules for measuring how WIA participants and employers rated workforce services. It specified whom to survey, when and how to interview them, response targets, statewide ACSI…
Safety training for temporary-agency workers at host worksites
A safety trainer asked which employer trains temporary-agency workers. OSHA said host employers ordinarily deliver job-specific instruction, but the staffing agency remains responsible for ensuring…
Methane fuel systems at wastewater treatment plants under PSM
A county sanitation district asked whether methane from interconnected digesters used solely as onsite fuel triggered process safety management. OSHA said the fuel exception could apply if the…
Integrating Trade Act services with the Workforce Investment Act Withdrawn
ETA urged state and local workforce officials to serve workers affected by trade through the Workforce Investment Act's One-Stop centers. The letter and attachments explain coordination among trade…
Fitness-for-duty certification and return-to-work notice
WHD answered questions about an employer’s return-to-work medical certification and examination requirements after FMLA leave. It said valid collective bargaining terms could govern the…
Intermittent FMLA leave and 1,250 hours of service
An employer asked whether a part-time worker using intermittent FMLA leave for one condition remained eligible after her recent hours fell below 1,250. WHD said eligibility established for that…
FMLA duties of professional employer organizations
WHD considered whether a professional employer organization and its client were covered employers under the FMLA. On the described facts, it said they appeared to be joint employers and the PEO…
Attendance bonuses during unpaid FMLA leave
WHD reviewed a monthly bonus tied to compensated attendance. It said unpaid FMLA leave could not make an otherwise eligible employee lose an attendance-based bonus, though the amount could be…
Earlier battery-restraint interpretation revised in 2003 Superseded
A truck-equipment company asked how reinstalled forklift batteries must be secured. OSHA’s 2000 answer said batteries must be restrained both horizontally and vertically. OSHA revised that answer in…
Whether a lock is a lockout device Unknown
A product safety engineer asked whether a lock counts as a lockout device. OSHA answered yes, citing the rule’s definition of a device that uses a keyed or combination lock to hold an energy…
Seniority and other benefits during FMLA leave
WHD answered whether seniority accrues during paid or unpaid FMLA leave. It said the FMLA does not itself require accrual during leave; the employer’s established policies for comparable paid or…
Welfare-to-Work eligibility and grant spending guidance Rescinded
ETA told Welfare-to-Work grantees how the 1999 amendments affected participant eligibility and use of federal formula funds during July–September 2000. It allowed documented transfers of eligible…
Preliminary estimates of 2000 employer UI contribution rates Withdrawn
ETA sent state unemployment agencies preliminary employer contribution rates for calendar year 2000, with actual rates for 1998 and 1999. Its attachments show rates as a share of taxable wages and…
Fall protection on concrete formwork platforms
An OSHA regional office asked which construction fall rules applied as workers assembled an elevated concrete formwork floor. OSHA said Subpart M fall protection applies at six feet whether formwork…
Wire-rope guardrails and tie-off during hoisting
An insurer asked how many rope clips a perimeter guardrail needs and when workers must tie off as rails are removed for hoisting. OSHA said the rule sets performance requirements rather than a fixed…
WIA Transition Summer Report instructions, Change 1 Rescinded
ETA revised the report state workforce agencies used for youth summer employment during the 2000 transition from JTPA to the Workforce Investment Act. The instructions set one April–September…
Scaffold stairs used as access to multistory buildings
A safety consultant challenged OSHA’s position on scaffold stair towers serving building levels. OSHA said a tower meeting the scaffold subpart, even if it differed from stairway requirements, could…
Multiple-lift rigging of precast concrete joists Unknown
A precast contractor asked whether it could lift several reinforced joists at once using proposed steel-erection procedures. OSHA said workers must be kept clear of suspended loads unless the…
Retention time for employee noise exposure measurements
A state safety adviser asked whether noise exposure measurements must be kept for two years or thirty. OSHA said the noise standard’s specific two-year period overrides the general exposure-record…
Fall protection for shallow stepped platforms during construction
A contractor asked whether a series of fourteen-inch-high indoor steps formed holes or unprotected edges under construction fall rules. OSHA said the platforms were not holes and the fourteen-inch…
Trench shield height above a vertical excavation wall
A trench-equipment maker asked how high a shield must extend when an excavation is sloped above a vertical lower wall. OSHA said the relevant appendix drawings permit the shield top below grade, but…
Former residential fall-protection directive and construction materials Unknown
A residential safety consultant asked whether OSHA had changed the definition of residential construction in its rewritten fall-protection directive. OSHA said it had not and explained that isolated…
Employers can't require unpaid on-premises meal breaks, even if duty-free
An employer association asked the Attorney General's Office to reconsider its position and allow employers to require unpaid, duty-free meal breaks taken on the company premises. The AG's Office…
Alloy steel chain grades for construction material lifts
A rigging supplier asked whether a sling below Grade 80 could lift material if the load never passed over workers. OSHA said the construction standard requires alloy-steel chain meeting its…
Deductions: debiting a manager's pay for staff salary and expenses; debits against insurance-sales commissions
At the request of a superior court judge presiding over a wage dispute, DLSE answered several questions about an insurance company's practice of debiting sales managers' pay. It concluded that…
Scissor lifts with extendable platforms under scaffold rules
A construction safety officer asked which rules cover scissor lifts with platforms extending beyond the wheelbase. OSHA said those lifts are not in the aerial-lift types incorporated by its rule and…
Warning lines for other trades working on low-slope roofs
An employer asked whether electricians and mechanical trades may work behind a roof warning line without tying off. OSHA said the special roofing-work exception does not generally apply to these…
Recording suspected hydrofluoric-acid exposure treated with calcium gluconate Unknown
A consultant asked whether preventive calcium-gluconate treatment after suspected hydrofluoric-acid contact must be recorded. OSHA said exposure and preventive care without injury were not…
IRA investment in partnership with owner and relatives Unknown
An IRA owner asked whether the IRA could invest in a partnership alongside the owner and relatives. EBSA said the described purchase itself did not violate the cited sale rule, but declined to…
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.
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- 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.