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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Oregon residential roofing fall protection policy Unknown
OSHA reviewed Oregon’s residential roofing fall-protection policy under its state-plan oversight role. It concluded that Oregon’s policy allowed work at greater heights and roof pitches without the…
Fall protection citations for bridge construction Unknown
Regional staff asked whether to cite two bridge contractors for failing to provide fall protection. OSHA's construction compliance office concurred with issuing one citation to each under the…
Disaster unemployment benefit amounts for April–June 1994 Unknown
ETA directed state unemployment agencies to use the attached average weekly benefit amounts when calculating disaster unemployment assistance for disasters occurring April through June 1994. It said…
St. Anthony’s Hospital benefit plans as church plans Unknown
A Florida Catholic hospital asked whether its employee benefits were church plans. EBSA said the Franciscan order’s control of the hospital and its associated plan committees met the definition, and…
Presbyterian retirement home welfare plans as church plans Unknown
A Presbyterian retirement home operator asked whether its employee welfare arrangements were church plans. EBSA said the presbytery’s control of the homes and associated benefits committee met the…
Insulators apprenticeship and hazardous waste trusts under ERISA Unknown
A requester asked whether two apprenticeship and hazardous materials training trusts were ERISA welfare plans subject to reporting. EBSA said both provided employee training benefits funded by…
FMLA leave and reasonable accommodation
A requester asked whether an employer could require an employee to take a reasonably accommodated or light-duty job instead of FMLA leave. WHD said eligible employees could elect FMLA leave despite…
Crane-supported overhang form as a scaffold or personnel platform Unknown
A form-system maker asked which OSHA rules applied to a crane-supported access platform. OSHA said that, if the hoist was secured and the platform stayed still with workers on it, it would be…
Revised draft language on reemployment service participation Unknown
ETA corrected model state-law language for unemployment claimants referred to reemployment services after worker profiling. It said a claimant who completed the services or had justifiable cause for…
Safety net at open hatches as fall protection
A manufacturer asked whether OSHA would accept its net over open hatches. OSHA said it did not endorse products, but the described net appeared to provide effective added protection and might be an…
Disinfectant policy for bloodborne pathogen cleanup Unknown
A state labor official asked OSHA to clarify its bloodborne-pathogen disinfection directive. OSHA said it based the then-current disinfectant methods on CDC guidance and industrial hygiene…
Public-sector compensatory time and FMLA leave
WHD considered public employees' compensatory time earned instead of FLSA overtime pay. It said this time was not one of the accrued paid-leave forms that FMLA allowed to be substituted for unpaid…
Interim steel erection fall protection policy remains in place Unknown
A steel industry group urged OSHA to change its interim fall protection enforcement policy for steel erection. OSHA said it was evaluating the group's views on citations for falls between 10 and 25…
1994 Summer Challenge II youth work and learning guidance Withdrawn
ETA gave states and local job-training areas detailed instructions for the 1994 Summer Challenge II youth program. It emphasized meaningful work, educational skills, links with schools and private…
OSHA and Coast Guard jurisdiction on foreign vessels Unknown
A regional office asked whether expanded Coast Guard authority over foreign vessels displaced OSHA enforcement against marine cargo handlers. OSHA said the Coast Guard's vessel authority did not bar…
Assistant golf professionals are employees, not independent contractors, while teaching lessons
A law firm asked whether "assistant golf professionals" who spend most of their time in a golf club's pro shop, but occasionally teach paid lessons and receive an IRS 1099 for that portion, are…
OSHA and Coast Guard authority over foreign-flag vessels Unknown
An OSHA regional office asked whether expanded Coast Guard inspection authority displaced OSHA enforcement on foreign-flag vessels. OSHA said the Coast Guard change concerned vessel conditions and…
Thirty-day retest window for hearing-loss records Unknown
An audiology provider asked whether a later hearing test could reverse a former OSHA Form 200 hearing-loss entry. OSHA said a retest had to occur within 30 calendar days to replace the initial…
Historical hearing-loss recording across employers Unknown
A shipping association asked how hearing loss had to be recorded on the former OSHA Form 200. OSHA described its then-used 25-decibel threshold, the audiogram date for an illness entry, and which…
Cumulative trauma and establishment records on Form 200 Unknown
A state labor official asked when cumulative trauma disorders became recordable, when a recurrence was a new case, and how many logs a ski resort needed. OSHA explained its then-current onset and…
Methanol and propane used solely as furnace fuel Unknown
A manufacturer asked whether its heat-treating furnaces fell under OSHA’s process safety management rule because they used methanol and propane. OSHA said the described process was outside the rule…
Specimen containers under the bloodborne pathogen standard
A lawyer asked whether containers approved under transportation rules automatically met OSHA’s bloodborne-pathogen requirements and whether other containers could qualify. OSHA said its rule judged…
Lutheran Social Services East Region plans as church plans Unknown
A Pennsylvania Lutheran social ministry asked whether its employee benefits were church plans. EBSA said synod control of the ministry and its associated benefits committee met the definition on the…
Morningside Ministries benefit plans as church plans Unknown
A retirement housing ministry founded by Episcopal, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches asked whether its employee benefits were church plans. EBSA said the churches jointly controlled the ministry…
Review of Washington excavation inspection procedures Unknown
OSHA reviewed Washington’s directive for inspecting excavation work. It said the state procedures were essentially the same as OSHA’s federal inspection instructions and agreed they were at least as…
Gloves for routine blood draws under OSHA rules
A hospital phlebotomist asked whether experienced staff could decide not to wear gloves during routine blood draws. OSHA said its federal bloodborne-pathogens rule required gloves because blood…
First-aid medical personnel and emergency eyewash guidance Unknown
A correspondent asked OSHA to define available medical personnel and quick-drenching equipment under its first-aid standard. OSHA said qualified medical advice must be readily available but it did…
Toeboards over an inaccessible water tank Unknown
A company asked whether a walkway over a mostly full water tank needed toeboards when workers were barred from entering the tank. OSHA said toeboards protect workers below from falling tools and…
Safety standards for commercial battery shops
A correspondent asked which OSHA standards applied to battery charging and related safety equipment. OSHA said the industrial-truck battery rule did not govern commercial shops changing vehicle…
Hazard communication duties in a physician's office
A member of Congress relayed a physician's concern about the burden of OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA explained that the rule covers hazardous chemicals with potential workplace exposure,…
Leakproof secondary containers for specimens
A specimen-bag manufacturer asked whether the secondary container could leak if the primary specimen container failed. OSHA answered that the secondary container must be closable, prevent leakage…
Employer-required substitution of paid FMLA leave
WHD answered union members who wanted paid vacation or sick leave substitution during FMLA leave to be optional. It said the FMLA allowed an employer to require substitution of applicable accrued…
Excavation safeguards during pool wall construction
OSHA addressed pool excavations whose walls served as forms for gunite or shotcrete. It said the usual protective system could make that work infeasible, and listed alternative steps to reduce…
Material stacking standards at construction sites
A correspondent asked OSHA for safe ways to stack heavy elevator doors at a construction site. OSHA pointed to its general construction and industry material-storage standards and said they did not…
Overtime-exempt hours worked in a specifically exempt job don't count toward daily overtime in a mixed workday
A payroll consultant asked whether an employee who works part of a workday in a job covered by a California Wage Order (eligible for daily overtime after eight hours) and then switches to a…
Maternity leave and the FMLA 12-week period
WHD answered four questions about childbirth and maternity leave. It said qualifying disability leave for childbirth could count against the same 12-week FMLA entitlement used for newborn care, and…
Parking-lot injuries and commuting in OSHA logs Unknown
An employer asked about recording employee injuries in company parking areas. OSHA said parking-lot injuries generally were not presumed work related unless the worker was there for work or as a…
Recording occupational illnesses on the OSHA 200 Log Unknown
An employer asked how to record occupational illnesses on the OSHA 200 Log. OSHA explained when a condition was work related, which date to enter, and how to handle an illness discovered after…
Lancaster Mennonite Hospitals employee plans as church plans Unknown
A requester asked whether specified Lancaster Mennonite Hospitals employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA found the defined plans were church plans on the represented facts and excluded from…
Guarding protruding reinforcing steel
A construction employer asked whether large reinforcing bars protruding from a concrete floor had to be guarded. OSHA said any diameter or length of protruding bar must be guarded where a worker…
Attendance, safety, and production bonuses after FMLA leave Unknown
A requester asked whether attendance, safety, and production bonuses could be reduced or denied because an employee used FMLA leave. WHD’s 1994 letter said some bonuses had to remain available after…
Acid concentrations under process safety rules Unknown
A company asked whether 35 percent hydrochloric acid was covered by OSHA's process safety management rule and how to assess other acids. OSHA said aqueous hydrochloric acid was not covered, then…
Multi-employer health plans during FMLA leave
WHD considered how employers in a multi-employer health plan should maintain coverage during FMLA leave. It said the employer must arrange adequate contributions so coverage continues as though the…
Inspection and removal criteria for wire rope slings
A company asked how to apply OSHA's removal criteria for wire rope slings. OSHA explained when broken wires or wear require immediate removal, how to compare diameter measurements, and the duty to…
Messiah Home benefit arrangements as church plans Unknown
A Brethren in Christ retirement community asked whether its employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA said church control of the home and its associated plan committee met the definition;…
St. Peter’s Hospital Mercy benefit plans as church plans Unknown
A Mercy hospital asked whether its employee benefit arrangements and those of related institutions were church plans. EBSA said the order’s control of the institutions and benefits committee met the…
Nazareth Hospital employee plans as church plans Unknown
A Catholic hospital in Philadelphia asked whether its employee benefit plans were church plans. EBSA said the religious order’s control of the hospital and associated plan committee met the…
United Service Association health trust ERISA and insurance status Unknown
Connecticut regulators asked whether a small-employer association’s restructured health trust was an ERISA welfare plan and fully insured. EBSA could not find that the association was a bona fide…
Federal OSHA jurisdiction over volunteer firefighters
A volunteer firefighter asked why federal OSHA had not intervened on behalf of his department. OSHA said the Occupational Safety and Health Act excluded states and their political subdivisions from…
Sacred Heart Manor benefit arrangements as church plans Unknown
A requester asked whether specified employee benefit plans of a Carmelite nursing home were church plans. EBSA found the defined plans were church plans on the represented facts and excluded from…
Mercy hospitals’ employee plans as church plans Unknown
A requester acting for Mercy hospitals asked whether their employee benefit arrangements were church plans. EBSA concluded that the Church was deemed the employer under ERISA section 3(33)(C)(iii)…
'Cashing in' vested vacation at a discount to current wage rate risks a void wage release
A law firm asked whether an employer, having complied with Labor Code section 227.3 and the Suastez line of cases on vacation, could let employees voluntarily "cash in" vested vacation accrued under…
Paying exempt employees extra for hours beyond 10 in a day doesn't jeopardize their exempt status
A company's chief operations officer asked whether paying exempt employees for hours worked in excess of 10 in a day would jeopardize their exempt status under the California Industrial Welfare…
Lockout of agitators during confined-space cleaning Unknown
A dairy association asked whether cleaning vats and tanks with unguarded agitators required lockout or tagout. OSHA said the cleaning was servicing, the spaces had to be isolated, and a…
Rebar caps used to prevent impalement Unknown
An OSHA regional office asked about guidance on plastic caps for protruding rebar. OSHA distinguished small pipe or conduit caps, which it said do not prevent impalement, from larger mushroom caps…
Guarding the swing radius of pipe-laying excavators
A contractors' association asked whether crane swing-radius guarding rules applied to excavators placing pipe. OSHA said no construction standard specifically addressed that operation, but the…
When hospitalization triggers OSHA incident reporting Unknown
An employer asked when multiple employee hospitalizations had to be reported under then-current OSHA rules. OSHA said an employee counted as hospitalized when admitted on an inpatient basis;…
Franciscan Health System employee plans as church plans Unknown
A Franciscan order asked whether benefit plans at its health system and eleven facilities were church plans. EBSA said church control of the institutions and associated plan committees met the…
Addison Community Hospital pension as governmental plan Unknown
A Michigan community hospital asked whether its pension plan was governmental after its public hospital authority filed for bankruptcy. EBSA said the authority and hospital were government…
Material safety data sheets in a dental compendium
A dental publisher asked whether manufacturers could meet OSHA's material safety data sheet duties by supplying a compendium to dentists. OSHA said a book could work if employers actually received…
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.