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.
No documents match your search
Try different keywords or clear a filter.
Interim respirator protection factor for 3M abrasive-blast helmet Unknown
An OSHA memo set interim enforcement treatment for a particular 3M abrasive-blasting helmet under the lead-in-construction rule. It allowed a higher protection factor for that model only if used…
Gas masks at anhydrous-ammonia storage sites
An agricultural cooperative asked whether a full-face respirator with ammonia cartridges counted as the gas masks required at stationary anhydrous-ammonia storage. OSHA said no: the cited NIOSH…
Updated JTPA transfers between program titles Withdrawn
ETA updated its instructions for moving Job Training Partnership Act funds among adult training, youth, and dislocated-worker programs. With a governor's approval, local areas could transfer up to…
Technical amendment to Welfare-to-Work formula-fund obligations Rescinded
ETA explained a 1998 amendment to the rules for obligating Welfare-to-Work formula grants. States still had to promptly allocate formula funds to service delivery areas, but the letter said the…
Obligation of Welfare-to-Work formula funds Rescinded
ETA explained that a 1998 technical amendment changed when states must obligate Welfare-to-Work formula funds. States with multiple service delivery areas still had to allocate the required share…
Refusing respirator medical exams and facial-hair alternatives
A representative of Lockton Companies asked whether employees had to submit to respirator medical evaluation and whether religious facial hair created an exemption. OSHA said workers may refuse…
Paying federal tax withheld from unemployment benefits Unknown
ETA offered states an optional Treasury process for sending federal income tax withheld from unemployment benefits to the IRS. The letter explains daily transfers through the Unemployment Trust Fund…
Asbestos building-owner duties and enforcement resources Unknown
A building-services firm asked about court challenges, compliance materials, citation data and OSHA enforcement of asbestos duties for building owners. OSHA said the cited owner requirements were…
Methylene chloride amendments and 1998 compliance dates Unknown
A national OSHA memo alerted regional offices to changes in the methylene chloride standard, including medical-removal protection, delayed startup dates for some controls, and continued short-term…
Historical FMLA spouse definition and domestic partners Superseded
WHD answered a question about leave to care for a domestic partner under the spouse definition then in force. The letter’s former definition and its discussion of the Defense of Marriage Act are…
Covering a shallow concrete elevator pit
A construction adviser asked what fall protection applied to an open four-foot-deep elevator pit. OSHA said it was a hole under the standard and, although the six-foot fall rule did not apply,…
Respirator fit tests and SCBA storage on fire trucks
A physician asked when qualitative or quantitative fit testing was required and whether fire-truck SCBA needed full covers. OSHA described fit-test choices under the respirator standard, accepted…
Respirator medical evaluations and employee-selected physicians
A union representative asked how the revised respirator rule handles medical evaluations. OSHA said employers must provide an evaluation, may use an employee's physician if they choose, and need not…
Two-in/two-out staffing for interior structural firefighting
A fire inspector asked whether each firefighter entering a structure required a matching outside firefighter and whether standby crews had to wait before a rescue. OSHA said two outside firefighters…
Material safety data sheet format under the 1998 hazard communication rule Unknown
A senator relayed a county employee's request for one format for material safety data sheets. OSHA said its 1998 rule recommended an ANSI format but let chemical suppliers choose how to present…
Proposed petrochemical staffing-industry training program: trainee exemption
A lawyer for a staffing company asked DLSE to evaluate a proposed unpaid training program for people not yet employed, run by an outside training firm to prepare candidates for petrochemical…
Unpaid newspaper interns: the 11-part trainee-exemption test
A journalist asked DLSE whether a weekly newspaper's unpaid "interns" — who fact-check, research, do filing and accounting work, and aren't enrolled in any school program — are lawfully unpaid. DLSE…
Selecting eye and respiratory protection for glass-bead work
A glass-bead maker asked what eye and respiratory protection to use in a studio. OSHA said the choice depends on a site-specific hazard assessment, including airborne exposure levels and the type of…
UCX eligibility for military separations due to inaptitude Rescinded
ETA expanded the military separation reasons it treated as “inaptitude” for unemployment claims by former service members. It told states to use the revised list for claims filed from November 10,…
Electronic pay statements and direct deposit: employer must furnish a hard copy
A payroll-services attorney asked DLSE about a proposed "paperless" payroll system letting employees view pay statements and direct-deposit confirmations securely online instead of on paper. DLSE…
Sleep shifts and hours worked under IWC Order 5: residential care facility
An administrator of a residential care facility for developmentally disabled adults asked whether overnight hours, during which employees on 12-hour shifts are required to be present but are…
Descent control devices and fall arrest in construction
A construction equipment supplier asked what OSHA required for descent control devices such as figure eights and racks. OSHA said it had no device-specific rule, but general strength, training and…
Requiring employees to buy excess auto insurance: reimbursement under Labor Code section 2802
An employer planned to require employees who regularly drive personal vehicles for business to carry auto insurance coverage above California's legal minimum. DLSE said Labor Code section 2802 does…
Selective Service registration for JTPA eligibility Rescinded
ETA told JTPA grantees how to check Selective Service registration when deciding whether a male applicant could receive program services. It distinguished applicants still able to register from…
Selective Service registration and JTPA eligibility Rescinded
ETA instructed Job Training Partnership Act grantees how to assess Selective Service registration when deciding program eligibility. For applicants older than 26 who failed to register, local…
Airport shuttle drivers generally lack the overtime exemption; vehicle facts matter
An attorney asked DLSE to revise a 1997 opinion letter's conclusion that for-hire airport shuttle drivers are not exempt from overtime under Wage Order 9's exemption for drivers whose hours of…
Backup alarms or observers for construction vehicles
A requester asked OSHA to weigh the safety benefit of electronic backup alarms against the noise they create. OSHA said construction vehicles with an obstructed rear view need either a…
Protective footwear and payment in longshoring Unknown
A maritime employers' association asked how OSHA's longshoring footwear rules compared with an industry safety code, who decides where shoes are required, and who pays. OSHA said the employer…
Decontaminating an SCBA's second-stage regulator
A respirator maker asked whether an SCBA's mask-mounted second-stage regulator must be cleaned when the wearer's exhalation valve is in that regulator. OSHA said it must be cleaned and…
Incumbent Worker System Building Demonstration Rescinded
ETA invited states to apply for demonstration grants to build statewide plans for incumbent worker training. The letter described eligible planning work, a grant ceiling of $50,000 per state, and…
Incumbent worker system building demonstration grants Rescinded
ETA offered states planning grants to develop incumbent worker training strategies and state plans. Each demonstration grant could run up to 12 months and provide up to $50,000, with applications…
Protective clothing for line-clearance tree trimmers
A utility asked what apparel requirements applied to line-clearance tree trimmers who were not qualified electrical workers. OSHA said the applicable electric-power rule points to its general PPE…
Employee medical records after an asset sale
A company that bought contracts and hired workers from another firm's environmental business asked whether it had to take over the seller's employee exposure and medical records. OSHA said the…
Lockout during grinding-wheel changes Unknown
A manufacturer asked whether an interlocked guard let a toolmaker change a grinding wheel without lockout or tagout. OSHA said no, because the wheel change occurred outside normal production and did…
Fit testing and medical evaluation under the respirator rule Unknown
A requester asked about fit testing, medical evaluations and voluntary use under the revised respirator rule. OSHA answered that full-face negative-pressure respirators needed quantitative fit…
Medical professional discretion in respirator evaluations
A health professional asked whether optional respirator questionnaire questions would become mandatory and whether a positive response always required a hands-on exam. OSHA said the professional…
Medical technicians and respirator evaluations
An industrial employer asked whether medical technicians working under a physician could conduct respirator medical evaluations. OSHA said the rule requires a physician or other licensed health care…
Grain-dust action level at feed mills
A feed-mill operator asked whether the grain handling standard's one-eighth-inch dust action level applied to feed mills. OSHA said that threshold was written for grain elevators and did not apply…
Year 2000 readiness of unemployment computer systems Withdrawn
ETA described its Year 2000 testing plans for the unemployment program's shared SUN computers and software. It told state agencies to test their own software and data feeds, prepare for a system…
Minimum disaster unemployment assistance amounts for October–December 1998 Withdrawn
ETA sent state unemployment agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from October through December 1998. It instructed agencies to use…
Representative methylene chloride exposure sampling across sites
A business group asked whether sampling employees at one manufacturing site could represent workers in the same jobs at other sites. OSHA said no under the methylene chloride rule, because…
Classifying a product as a mixture for hazard communication Unknown
A lawyer asked OSHA to decide whether a client's abrasive product was a mixture under the hazard communication rule. OSHA said manufacturers make that determination and offered a distinction between…
Respirators for dichlorobenzidine-contaminated equipment
A lawyer asked what respiratory protection workers needed while repairing equipment used for, or contaminated by, dichlorobenzidine. OSHA said supplied-air respirators were required while…
Telephone backup for electronic material safety data sheets
A contractor asked whether workers could request material safety data sheets by telephone if an electronic system failed. OSHA said waiting up to two hours for a sheet was not immediate access. It…
Interim enforcement policy for the revised respirator standard Unknown
OSHA told its regional offices how to enforce the revised respirator standard after a small-business guide was published later than expected. For employers complying with the old rule, it directed…
Consumer association health program remains a MEWA Unknown
A consumer association sought reconsideration of an earlier opinion calling its health program a MEWA. EBSA said a program can be a MEWA even if it is not itself an ERISA welfare plan, and the…
Guarding automatic screw machines Unknown
A machine company asked whether guarding that followed an industry standard and manufacturer guidance met OSHA's requirements for automatic screw machines. OSHA said its machine-guarding rule was…
Administrative exemption: insurance company claims representatives are non-exempt 'production' workers
An attorney asked DLSE whether insurance company claims representatives — who estimate auto damage and injury costs, flag possible fraud, and seek approval above their authorized dollar limits —…
Group purchasing agreements and bloodborne pathogen controls
A lawyer asked whether healthcare group purchasing agreements violated OSHA's bloodborne pathogens rule. OSHA said it did not decide the legality of purchasing contracts, but employers still had to…
Medical evaluations for required and voluntary respirator use
An airline asked whether disposable dust masks and supplied-air respirators require medical evaluation. OSHA said required dust-mask use does, while voluntary filtering-facepiece use does not. It…
Inspection standards for below-the-hook lifting devices and slings
A lifting-device supplier asked which inspection reference OSHA used for below-the-hook devices and whether engine carriers counted as slings. OSHA said it referred to ANSI/ASME B30.20 for device…
Clarifications to Year 2000 verification of UI systems Withdrawn
ETA clarified UIPL 38-98 by allowing state unemployment agencies to use a rapid initial independent review focused on benefit-year-ending functions for their December 1998 certification. States…
Life policy sales to relatives under PTE 92-6 Unknown
A requester asked about three life-policy sale structures under prohibited transaction exemption 92-6. EBSA said sales to multiple eligible relatives, a policy insuring a participant and spouse, and…
Proposed verification procedures for federal unemployment benefits Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies that a Justice Department proposal would change how they verify eligibility for federal unemployment benefits, including benefits for former federal and military…
Screen doors for temporary labor housing
A Florida labor official asked whether OSHA's temporary labor housing rule required screen doors on every exterior doorway. OSHA said exterior doorways counted as exterior openings, so they had to…
Welfare-to-Work eligibility for noncustodial parents Rescinded
ETA explained a 1998 amendment to eligibility for Welfare-to-Work services funded from the program's 70 percent targeted portion. The person receiving services, including a noncustodial parent, had…
Negative-election 401(k) deductions violate Labor Code 221
An employer asked whether it could switch its 401(k) enrollment from an opt-in ("positive election") system to one where employees are automatically enrolled and contributions deducted unless they…
Revised JTPA performance standards worksheets for program years 1998 and 1999 Withdrawn
ETA corrected national averages in the optional worksheets states used to set local Job Training Partnership Act performance standards for 1998 and 1999. The changes affected the factors for people…
"Use it or lose it" vacation policy and vacation pay at termination
An employer asked whether its vacation policy — under which vacation didn't begin accruing until semi-annual target dates, couldn't be carried over past the calendar year, and was paid out only on…
Y2K continuity plans for state unemployment agencies Withdrawn
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies to prepare separate Y2K continuity plans for benefit and tax operations. It identified core functions, supplied a sample planning matrix, and set 1998 and…
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.