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.
Fire plans and extinguishers at power facilities Unknown
OSHA answered field questions about fire extinguishers and emergency plans at a power facility. The memo distinguished employers who train all employees to fight incipient fires from those who…
Bloodborne-pathogen coverage at a school
A school asked whether every employee needed hepatitis B vaccination and other measures under OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard. OSHA said the standard covers employees whose duties reasonably…
Bloodborne-pathogen rules for a medical practice
A medical practice asked how OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard applied to eating areas, handwashing, training and patients. OSHA said the eating and personal-item restrictions apply where…
JTPA Title II and III performance standards for PY 1996 and 1997 Rescinded
ETA set national performance levels for adult, youth, older worker, and dislocated worker programs under the Job Training Partnership Act for program years 1996 and 1997. It directed governors to…
Federal grant management requirements for state unemployment programs Withdrawn
ETA explained which federal grant rules applied to state unemployment agencies in 1996. It highlighted rules on financial systems, allowable costs, procurement, program income, audits, property,…
Training, PPE and injury records for temporary workers Unknown
OSHA answered questions about how a staffing agency and host employer share safety duties for temporary workers. It said host employers generally handle site-specific training, monitoring and…
Safety programs and inspection access for temporary workers
OSHA addressed a staffing agency's questions about safety programs, incentive plans, inspections and employer status for temporary workers. It said a general safety program was not required for most…
Coordination with EPA during joint workplace investigations Unknown
OSHA told regional administrators how to coordinate joint investigations with EPA while formal protocols were pending. It directed staff to keep EPA informed of enforcement case progress and agree…
Power-feed devices on self-feed circular ripsaws
A saw maker requested a variance from OSHA's anti-kickback-finger rule for self-feed circular ripsaws. OSHA said a variance was unnecessary because a properly used power-feed device could provide…
1995 benefit accuracy data release and report procedures Withdrawn
ETA set the timetable and format for reviewing calendar 1995 unemployment Benefit Accuracy Measurement reports. It described the error-rate calculations, optional state narratives, comment period,…
Probationary teachers returning from FMLA leave
WHD considered a teacher in the second year of a probationary period who took unpaid FMLA leave. It said the school could not restart the teacher in year one, because that would erase service…
Minimum weekly disaster unemployment assistance for April–June 1996 disasters Withdrawn
ETA gave state agencies minimum weekly Disaster Unemployment Assistance amounts for major disasters declared from April 1 through June 30, 1996. It explained that the usual minimum was 50 percent of…
TB exposure inspection and respirator policy at a hospital
A hospital questioned an OSHA inspection and the cost of its TB respiratory protection measures. OSHA explained why the complaint led to an inspection and described which workers its then-current TB…
Conveyor crossover stile and fixed-ladder step distance Unknown
A conveyor equipment maker asked OSHA to exempt a crossover stile after a customer was cited. OSHA said it could not grant an exemption by letter and pointed to the variance process. It rejected the…
HAZWOPER refresher training documentation
A training provider asked whether a refresher course instructor must see proof that workers completed initial HAZWOPER training. OSHA said employers must ensure training and retain certification…
Injury logs for business travel and call-back trips Unknown
OSHA answered 1996 questions about logging injuries during business trips, trips between buildings and extra trips back to work. It treated the described business travel and call-back trips as work…
Injury logging on sidewalks, parking lots and work premises Unknown
OSHA answered detailed 1996 questions about which injuries on sidewalks, parking lots and employer premises belonged on its injury log. The answers distinguished normal commutes from travel for work…
Logging off-premises and on-call worker injuries Unknown
A telephone industry group asked when off-premises and on-call injuries counted as work related for OSHA logs. OSHA said the worker's activity, rather than pay status, mattered and distinguished…
Correcting entries on the OSHA 200 injury log Unknown
An employer asked whether it could delete an injury-log entry that proved inaccurate or nonrecordable. OSHA said the entry could be removed with a computer program, correction fluid, an eraser or…
Work-related injury and illness logging definitions Unknown
A worker asked how OSHA defined work-related injuries and illnesses for its former injury logs. OSHA described the then-current presumption for events on employer premises, the role of contributing…
Permanent installation of a Bullard free-air pump
An engineering firm asked whether a Bullard breathing-air pump had to remain portable. OSHA said permanently installing it should not itself create a safety or health hazard, while four compliance…
Surgical smoke and OSHA's general duty clause
A perioperative nurse asked whether OSHA required evacuation of smoke from electrosurgery. OSHA said it had no standard specifically covering surgical-smoke inhalation, while the general duty clause…
Beards, respirator fit and religious accommodation
A worker with a religious beard asked whether OSHA allowed it when respiratory protection was required. OSHA explained that tight-fitting respirators need an effective face seal, while the employer…
Gloves for routine contact lens fittings
An optometry group asked whether doctors must wear gloves while fitting contact lenses. OSHA said routine care without reasonably anticipated exposure to blood or other potentially infectious…
Urine specimens under the bloodborne pathogens standard
A correspondent asked whether handling urine samples created a bloodborne pathogen risk under OSHA's rule. OSHA said urine without visible or reasonably anticipated blood was outside that rule's…
Cleaning solvent flashpoint for electrostatic spray equipment
A manufacturer requested a variance to clean electrostatic spray equipment with n-butyl acetate. OSHA said no variance was needed because that solvent's stated flashpoint exceeded the lower…
Experience rating of Indian tribes Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies that tribes liable for the federal unemployment tax must be experience rated for a reduced contribution rate and cannot use the reimbursement option reserved for…
Program guidance and allocations for the 1996 Summer Youth Employment and Training Program Rescinded
ETA announced $625 million in fiscal year 1996 summer youth funding and told states how to run the program, transfer funds, and report spending. It emphasized work experience combined with learning…
Pittsburgh Federal Home Loan Bank employee plans as governmental plans Unknown
The Pittsburgh Federal Home Loan Bank asked whether its employee benefit plans were excluded from ERISA Title I as governmental plans. EBSA said the bank was a federal instrumentality because of…
Concrete slab and floor-load posting requirements Unknown
A correspondent asked whether a ground-supported concrete slab counted as a floor and what a floor-load sign meant. OSHA said a slab inside a building was a floor, then explained a proposed revision…
Federal OSHA coverage of volunteer firefighters
A fire association asked whether unpaid reserve or apprentice firefighters were covered by OSHA. OSHA said federal OSHA generally did not cover public employees and that coverage in states with…
Asbestos competent-person training for roofing work
A state health official asked whether a competent person on Class II asbestos roofing jobs always needed a five-day supervisor course. OSHA said an approved comprehensive roofing course could…
Exposed electrical motor connection splices
An employer asked whether electrical tape alone could cover exposed motor wiring splice points. OSHA said the described connections violated its electrical standard because splices needed approved…
Portable ladders, fixed ladders and fall protection Unknown
A safety consultant asked when portable, stacked and scaffold ladders required fall protection. OSHA distinguished fixed from portable ladders under general industry and construction definitions and…
Asbestos wallboard and joint compound as Class II work Unknown
A contractor asked whether removal of wallboard and asbestos-containing joint compound was Class I or Class II work under the construction asbestos standard. OSHA answered that the described removal…
When landowners are employers of logging workers Unknown
A logging association asked when a landowner counts as the employer of contracted loggers under the OSH Act. OSHA said the answer depends on each arrangement, focusing on control over cutting…
Multiemployer citation policy at temporary-worker sites Unknown
A correspondent asked how OSHA's multiemployer worksite policy applied to temporary workers. OSHA said its citation policy had expanded beyond employers directly exposing workers to include…
HAZWOPER training for unexploded-ordnance cleanup
The Army Corps asked whether workers clearing brush or surveying sites with unexploded ordnance needed HAZWOPER training. OSHA said the cleanup fell under HAZWOPER and the training had to address…
Preventilation of bakery ovens after shutdown
A bakery equipment consultant asked when an oven must be preventilated before reopening fuel valves. OSHA referred to the then-current NFPA oven standard as providing equal or greater protection and…
OSHA employer status for logging landowners
A member of Congress asked how OSHA decides whether landowners are employers of contracted loggers. OSHA said the decision depends on the facts, especially control over cutting work, equipment,…
California health plan enrollment bonuses and ERISA preemption Unknown
A hospital asked whether California could use its Knox-Keene rules to stop its employee health plan from offering bonuses for certain HMO choices. EBSA said ERISA preempted the law to the extent it…
Cranes near energized power lines Unknown
A senator asked about OSHA rules after a fatal crane and power-line accident. OSHA said boom guards and insulating links did not substitute for keeping cranes clear of energized lines or using a…
Asbestos exposure notices and training in hospitals
A hospital asked whether one centrally posted asbestos notice could serve a multistory building and whether clerical staff needed training. OSHA said a central notice could suffice if all…
P100, N100 and R100 filters in place of HEPA filters
A respirator maker asked how newer NIOSH filter ratings related to OSHA standards requiring HEPA filters. OSHA said an employer could use a P100, N100 or R100 filter certified under 42 CFR Part 84,…
Fire barriers and alternative precautions in tunnel work
An underground construction firm requested a variance from a one-hour fire barrier provision. OSHA said the standard itself allowed another barrier when additional precautions protected flammable…
NFPA 33 and spray-finishing filter enforcement
A filter manufacturer asked whether OSHA would enforce a newer NFPA spray-finishing standard before updating its own rule. OSHA said an employer clearly providing equal or greater protection under…
Recovery of UCFE overpayments after the 1995–96 federal shutdown Withdrawn
ETA told state unemployment agencies to review benefits paid to furloughed federal employees during the December 1995–January 1996 shutdown after Congress granted retroactive pay. States were to…
Revised military remuneration schedule for UCX benefits Withdrawn
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to use an attached military remuneration schedule to determine federal wages for ex-servicemembers' new claims beginning after April 6, 1996. Earlier claims…
Power-feed device instead of ripsaw anti-kickback fingers Unknown
OSHA responded to a field office's question about a ripsaw power-feed device. It said the specified model gave protection equivalent to required anti-kickback fingers when installed, maintained and…
Lineman snaphooks and residential-roof fall protection Unknown
An electric cooperative asked about snaphooks on pole straps and fall protection while connecting power on residential roofs. OSHA distinguished work-positioning straps from fall-arrest systems and…
Grounding or double insulation for battery chargers
An attorney asked whether a battery charger for rechargeable tools always needed grounding or double insulation. OSHA identified conditions that triggered one of those protections, including…
Logging-standard coverage of incidental tree cutting Unknown
A regional office asked whether OSHA's logging standard applied to storm-damaged tree removal at a service station and utility line clearing. OSHA said the service-station cleanup was outside that…
Mid-Continent health trust remains a MEWA Unknown
The Mid-Continent health trust asked EBSA to reconsider an earlier finding that its health program was a multiple employer welfare arrangement. EBSA said its joint and reinsurance accounts were part…
Seat belts and restraint systems on forklift trucks
A company asked whether forklift seat belts had to be installed, retrofitted and worn. OSHA said its rule did not specifically mandate belts, but recognized tip-over hazards and pointed to the…
Safety jurisdiction at New York's Javits Center Unknown
A worker asked federal OSHA about conditions at New York's Javits Center. OSHA described a joint inspection and said New York's Public Employee Safety and Health office then had jurisdiction over…
Urine sample quality for cadmium monitoring
A laboratory asked about low creatinine readings in urine samples for cadmium surveillance. OSHA advised screening samples for dilution and acidity, recollecting unsuitable samples and avoiding…
Continuation of unemployment insurance workload validation Withdrawn
ETA instructed state unemployment agencies to continue validating reported workloads while it developed a broader data validation system. For fiscal year 1996, states were to validate normally…
Fit testing and fit factors for N95 respirators
Safety consultants asked how to fit test newly certified N95 respirators. OSHA said quantitative or qualitative testing was acceptable under its then-current rule and described a minimum…
Asbestos competent-person course for Class II roofing Unknown
A roofing association questioned whether Class II asbestos supervisors always needed a five-day course. OSHA said the stated exception applied when intact roofing material was removed; other roofing…
Construction access and completed-building ramp rules Unknown
A correspondent asked for OSHA rules on concrete ramps at building entrances. OSHA pointed to construction access rules requiring stairs or ladders at certain elevation changes when no ramp or other…
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.