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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Child labor: minors under 16 barred from construction work, no volunteer exception
A state assemblymember asked the Department of Industrial Relations to clarify its enforcement of child labor law on construction sites, including whether volunteers, family businesses, or…
Eggplant cooling and packing on a farm: Wage Order 14 vs. 13
A farm labor association asked whether cooling harvested eggplant in water and wrapping it for cold storage on the grower's farm is "agricultural" work under Wage Order 14 or "preparing products for…
Bonuses paid in scrip violate Labor Code 212
An employer asked whether it could pay store employees a non-discretionary performance bonus in scrip redeemable only through a single vendor's catalogue, and whether offering a nominal cash value…
Work recesses under IWC Order 8-80, paragraph 3(E)
A produce-packing employer asked whether releasing employees from duty for unscheduled work recesses (while waiting for delayed produce deliveries) could be unpaid time under paragraph 3(E) of IWC…
Charging job applicants for required training is unlawful; training time is hours worked
A law firm asked whether a telemarketing employer could charge a training fee (waived after five days of employment) to job applicants who had to complete the employer's own training class to be…
Outside sales exemption does not cover salespersons based in a model home or trailer
A law firm asked whether real estate salespersons who sell new tract homes while based out of a model home or temporary trailer at the housing site qualify for the outside salesperson exemption from…
Welfare-to-Work formula and competitive grant questions and answers Rescinded
ETA answered questions from state and local Welfare-to-Work grantees about who could receive services, how formula grant funds and matching contributions could be used, and how competitive grants…
Sun-exposure hazards and protective equipment for outdoor workers
A skin-protection company asked OSHA to clarify an earlier letter about outdoor workers' sun exposure. OSHA said its general PPE rule could apply when employee overexposure was established, but a…
Employee access to personnel files: 'reasonable time' is case-by-case
A state assemblymember asked DLSE to clarify an employer's obligation under Labor Code section 1198.5 to let employees inspect their personnel files. DLSE explained that the statute's "reasonable…
Recording abnormal heavy-metal test results Unknown
An OSHA regional official asked whether elevated heavy-metal test results without symptoms were recordable. OSHA said the facts were insufficient by themselves; an abnormal test result was…
Adult education funds as Welfare-to-Work grant match Rescinded
ETA told states when adult education spending could count toward their Welfare-to-Work formula grant match. Only nonfederal spending above the Adult Education Act's required 25 percent match could…
Preventing worker contact burns from heated surfaces Unknown
A manufacturer asked what pipe temperature triggered an insulation requirement to prevent burns. OSHA said it had no general temperature threshold, but cited industry-specific pipe rules,…
Prevailing conditions of work in UI claims
ETA told state unemployment agencies to check whether offered new work has substantially less favorable wages, hours or other conditions than similar work in the locality before denying benefits for…
Piece rate calculation: minimum wage tested each pay period, no averaging across periods
A legal aid attorney raised a possible misunderstanding about how DLSE calculates piece-rate pay against the minimum wage obligation. DLSE clarified its policy: piece-rate earnings can only be…
Asbestos controls for material containing less than one percent asbestos
A lawyer asked OSHA to reconsider its interpretation of work on building material containing less than one percent asbestos. OSHA reaffirmed that certain wet-method and closed-container cleanup…
Fall protection while using the Elaminator 300 roof insulation system Unknown
A roofing-system maker asked whether its moving platform and cantilever plates met OSHA fall-protection requirements or needed a variance. OSHA analyzed hazards separately for insulation and…
1998 interest rate on Title XII unemployment advances Withdrawn
ETA announced that Treasury would charge 6.71 percent interest on Title XII advances to state unemployment funds during calendar year 1998. The letter made no further request of state agencies. ETA…
Independent verification of UI systems for Year 2000 Withdrawn
ETA required state unemployment agencies to independently verify their automated benefit and tax systems for Year 2000 readiness, submit a review plan, and certify testing results to their regional…
Guarding 3M surface-conditioning wheels
A lawyer asked OSHA to classify specified 3M surface-conditioning wheels for machine-guarding purposes. After reviewing the product's materials and test data, OSHA said these wheels were polishing…
Interstate claim procedures and elimination of IB forms Unknown
ETA told state unemployment agencies that agent states would stop conducting separation fact-finding for interstate claims filed from September 3, 1998, and would stop using Forms IB-7, IB-16, IB-11…
Electronic (phone/computer) authorization for payroll deductions can satisfy Labor Code 224
An employer asked whether authorizing payroll deductions (for benefits elections) by telephone or computer transmission, rather than a signed paper form, satisfies Labor Code section 224's…
Minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance amounts, July–September 1998 Withdrawn
ETA sent state unemployment agencies a table of minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from July through September 1998. It instructed agencies to use…
In-kind fund shares for bank in-house plans under PTE 77-3 Unknown
A fund administrator asked whether a bank's in-house plan could exchange securities for shares in a fund the bank advised. EBSA said prohibited transaction exemption 77-3 was not limited to cash…
Which wage order (public housekeeping vs. amusement/recreation) covers a private country club
A law firm asked which Industrial Welfare Commission wage order applies to a private country club that operates a restaurant along with golf and tennis facilities. DLSE explained that coverage turns…
Instructions for Title II JTPA Quarterly Financial Status Report Rescinded
ETA transmitted revised instructions and a two-page form for states to report Title II JTPA fund availability, accrued expenditures, program income and participant counts. Separate cumulative…
Instructions for the JTPA Title II quarterly financial status report Withdrawn
ETA told state JTPA administrators how to report Title II funds, expenditures, transfers and participant counts each quarter. It supplied revised form instructions and a fixed record format for…
Revised JTPA Summary Program Report instructions Withdrawn
ETA revised instructions for the JTPA Summary Program Report, clarifying participant counts for summer youth and state education grants and financial reporting for summer youth. It sent states the…
Process for setting UI PERFORMS Tier I criteria Withdrawn
ETA described how it planned to set national minimum criteria for unemployment insurance performance measures covering benefits, appeals and taxes. Specialist groups would draft criteria, ETA would…
Landing-platform spacing on fixed chimney ladders Unknown
A stack manufacturer asked whether its structure counted as a chimney and whether ladder platforms more than 30 feet apart met OSHA's rule. OSHA said the stack was a chimney and the then-current…
Box-fan cords and scaffold base plates at construction sites
A construction safety engineer asked whether a residential box fan with a flat cord could be used on site and whether a scaffold screw jack could sit directly on a plank. OSHA said the fan could be…
Corporate officers and their relatives are covered employees for workers' compensation insurance
An employer contested a civil penalty citation for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance, arguing that the people working at the business were only officers and relatives of the company.…
Reduced FMLA leave and ADA accommodation
WHD considered an employee with a lasting injury who worked a reduced schedule. It said permanent limits did not by themselves defeat eligibility for medically necessary intermittent or…
Revised JTPA performance-standard definitions Rescinded
ETA issued a corrected attachment of definitions for JTPA performance measures covering adults, youth, older workers, and displaced workers. The letter says it deleted an erroneous paragraph from…
Qualifications for asbestos bulk sampling
A safety professional asked whether experience or a Certified Safety Professional credential was enough to collect asbestos bulk samples. OSHA said those credentials alone were insufficient; the…
Interim enforcement policy for arborist logging citations Unknown
OSHA told regional offices how to handle logging-rule citations involving ornamental shrub and tree services while it discussed the issue with the arborist industry. It directed offices not to cite…
JTPA Title II and III performance standards for program years 1998 and 1999 Withdrawn
ETA gave states additional performance standards for Job Training Partnership Act programs in 1998 and 1999. The letter and six attachments define outcome measures, clarify youth training results,…
Recordability of workplace-related PCB blood levels Unknown
An OSHA official asked whether detectable PCB blood levels required health effects before being recorded as an occupational illness. OSHA said an abnormal result caused or contributed to by…
Welfare-to-Work formula grant financial reporting Withdrawn
ETA told states how to report Welfare-to-Work formula grant spending, match funds, program income, and participant outcomes. It supplied a quarterly financial status form, definitions for each…
Plastic drums for flammable methanol mixtures
LNT Enterprises' president asked whether a 35-percent methanol windshield-solvent mixture had to be moved from plastic drums into metal containers. OSHA said approved plastic containers or drums…
Electrical testing on energized food-service equipment
An equipment company asked whether technicians testing 120- or 240-volt commercial appliances needed insulating gloves. OSHA said testing could be done energized only as long as necessary and that…
Updating and revalidating process hazard analyses
An employer asked whether a five year process hazard analysis revalidation required an entirely new analysis. OSHA said employers may update and revalidate an existing analysis if they evaluate its…
Quaker retirement community benefit plans as church plans Unknown
A Pennsylvania continuing care community asked whether four pension and welfare arrangements were church plans. EBSA agreed based on an IRS ruling if operations remained substantially as described…
Portable ladder load ratings above 300 pounds Unknown
A worker worried that a 300-pound industry ladder rating could exclude larger workers carrying equipment. OSHA said its then-current portable-ladder rules did not prohibit ladders safely rated above…
Program Year 1998 JTPA and Wagner-Peyser waiver guidance Rescinded
ETA explained how existing Job Training Partnership Act and Wagner-Peyser Act waivers would be extended for Program Year 1998 and what performance improvements states were expected to achieve. It…
Fall protection at the edge of an empty swimming pool
A consultant asked what fall-protection rules covered workers beside an unfinished, unfilled residential pool. OSHA said the pool edge was an unprotected side or edge requiring conventional…
Fall arrest anchors on guardrails and crane runways
A crane company asked where workers accessing a crane runway could attach fall-arrest equipment. OSHA said ordinary guardrails were not anchorage points unless specifically designed to meet the…
Soap-and-water handwashing facilities for farmworkers
A blueberry grower asked to use a waterless hand cleaner instead of the field-sanitation rule's handwashing facility. OSHA said the rule required potable water, soap and single-use towels, citing…
Parents-in-law as legal wards under the FMLA
WHD considered an employee appointed co-guardian for parents-in-law. It said a legal ward falls within the FMLA’s son-or-daughter category only where the relationship is like that of parent and…
Job restoration after FMLA leave during reorganization
WHD considered a sheriff's office that wanted to redistribute a technician's specialized work during FMLA leave. It said business need alone creates no exception to restoration to the same or an…
Using a ladder-mounted wheel to hoist construction materials
A roofing-equipment maker asked which ladder and hoist rules applied when a wheel mounted on a ladder lifted materials. OSHA said workers were not using the ladder for climbing during that activity,…
Elimination of the Interstate Continued Claim form Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies that the Interstate Continued Claim form, IB-2, would be eliminated for claims filed from July 6, 1998. Liable states would provide claimants a way to certify…
Ambulance crew sleep-period exclusion from hours worked requires at least five uninterrupted hours
The Labor Commissioner corrected an earlier answer to a recurring question under Wage Orders 5-98 and 9-98: for ambulance drivers and attendants on 24-hour shifts who agree in writing to exclude a…
Remote water-treatment plant exemption from process safety management
An Alaska safety official described an unstaffed water-treatment site with chlorine cylinders, remote alarms and brief routine worker visits. OSHA said the described site qualified as a normally…
Universal precautions in a care facility's bloodborne pathogen plan
A care facility proposed limiting its bloodborne pathogen protections to patients known or suspected to have HIV or hepatitis B. OSHA said the plan should instead use universal precautions whenever…
ICON withdrawal and invalid claim information application Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies about a new Interstate Connection application that would let states share information on withdrawn claims and claims with ineligible monetary determinations. It…
Socially responsible mutual funds under ERISA fiduciary duties Unknown
A fund provider asked whether a plan fiduciary could select a socially responsible mutual fund as an investment or participant option. EBSA said the same prudence and loyalty standards apply as to…
Underground construction coverage, controls and variances
An underground construction association asked OSHA to clarify when its tunneling rule covered pits and how several safety requirements applied. OSHA said the rule covered pits with foreseeable…
JTPA Summary Program Report form and reporting instructions Withdrawn
ETA gave states a new JTPA Summary Program Report to track summer youth and state education grants. It added financial and cost fields, required planning, mid-summer and final reports for Title…
Posting OSHA notices for mobile vending crews
A state safety official asked where a business operating from portable carts or stalls should post the OSHA workplace notice. OSHA said a supporting central office where employees report is an…
Hoisting a worker in a boatswain's chair by crane Unknown
A contractor asked whether a worker could ride a boatswain's chair on one crane line while using the other line for loads. OSHA said crane hoisting generally required a personnel platform and could…
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.