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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Federal OSHA posting requirements for small employers Unknown
A member of Congress asked which federal OSHA posting rules applied to an employer with no more than ten workers. OSHA said the basic OSHA notice had to be posted regardless of employer size, while…
OSHA posting duties for small employers Unknown
A member of Congress asked which OSHA notices a Pennsylvania employer with ten or fewer workers had to post. OSHA said its basic workplace poster and inspection citations were required regardless of…
Employer share of health premiums during FMLA leave
WHD answered whether an employer could shift its usual health-insurance premium share to an employee on FMLA leave. It said the employer must keep paying its regular share and cannot charge the…
First-aid kits and emergency eyewash guidance Unknown
A consultant asked OSHA about emergency eyewash units, first-aid kits, and workplace first-aid duties. OSHA referred to its earlier eyewash interpretations and said first-aid supplies should fit the…
ESOP loan repayment using unpledged stock-sale proceeds Unknown
An ESOP asked whether it could repay a sponsor-guaranteed loan with proceeds from employer stock that had not formally been pledged. EBSA said the loan exemption’s recourse limit does not by itself…
Hazard communication duties for veterinary drugs
A veterinary laboratory asked how OSHA's hazard communication rule applied to drugs. OSHA said hazardous drugs generally needed material safety data sheets, even where FDA labeling displaced OSHA's…
Whether a labor-management trust ceased to be an ERISA plan Unknown
A plumbing industry cooperation trust asked EBSA to reconsider its earlier welfare-plan classification because it no longer intended to offer training or other covered benefits. EBSA said the…
IRA purchase and leaseback of family school property Unknown
An IRA owner proposed buying property from a school founded by the owner’s daughter and son-in-law, then leasing it back at a possibly reduced rent. EBSA said using IRA assets for that arrangement…
California law enforcement disability program and ERISA Unknown
A requester asked whether a California law-enforcement disability program was a single ERISA welfare plan. EBSA said its organization admitted both employers and employee groups, so it was neither a…
FMLA employer coverage across corporate divisions
A requester asked whether five divisions of a holding company counted as separate employers. WHD treated the corporation as one employer for FMLA coverage and said workers from any division within…
Overtime paid on a voluntary back-to-back shift doesn't offset the next day's regular-shift premium
A law firm asked DLSE whether an employer could count premium pay voluntarily paid for a back-to-back overnight shift toward the overtime owed for the employee's regular shift the next day, given…
Testing-laboratory approval for tunnel equipment
A tunnel equipment maker asked how OSHA decided whether electrical monitors and cables were approved for construction use. OSHA said the construction and general-industry testing-laboratory…
FMLA leave to care for a grandparent
WHD responded to a request to extend FMLA care leave to grandparents and other dependent relatives. It said the Act covered care for a spouse, child, or parent, including someone who had stood in…
Holiday pay during FMLA leave
WHD considered an employee who substituted paid sick and vacation leave during a period containing holidays. It said holiday pay depended on the employer's policy for comparable paid or unpaid…
Cash paid instead of medical insurance during FMLA leave
WHD considered a plan paying cash to employees who had medical insurance from another source and waived the employer's coverage. It said the FMLA required continuation of group health insurance…
Correction on hazardous extension-ladder setup
OSHA corrected a November 1993 answer about when misuse of an extension ladder could justify a citation. The corrected paragraph said a ladder set backward or too shallowly so its shoes failed to…
Pre-employment training time is compensable; only narrow skills-testing 'try-out' time is not
California's Employment Development Department asked DLSE about a firm requiring job applicants — including veterans seeking on-the-job training benefits — to complete unpaid "hiring procedure"…
Medical treatment after bloodborne exposure for log purposes Unknown
A hospital employee-health group asked what counted as medical treatment for OSHA injury and illness logs after blood exposure. OSHA said diagnostic HIV and hepatitis B tests and exposure counseling…
Returning extracted teeth to patients
A senator asked whether OSHA prohibited dentists from giving patients their extracted teeth. OSHA said the bloodborne-pathogens rule governed how extracted teeth were handled when disposed of or…
Meaning of direct recirculating bakery ovens
A bakers' cooperative asked what 'direct recirculating ovens' meant in OSHA's bakery-equipment standard. OSHA adopted the ANSI definition: a burner heats gases that mix with returned oven gases and…
Faucet-mounted emergency eyewash stations Unknown
A loss-prevention manager asked whether a faucet-mounted emergency eyewash could meet OSHA's first-aid rule. OSHA referred to ANSI specifications and highlighted prompt, hands-free valve operation…
Treatment of revised unemployment rates in Extended Benefits triggers Unknown
ETA told state unemployment agencies how to use revised historical unemployment data when calculating the alternative trigger for Extended Benefits. Once the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes…
TNCO self-funded employee health plan under ERISA Unknown
A health-claims administrator asked whether TNCO’s self-funded employee health plan was covered by ERISA. EBSA said the plan was a single-employer welfare plan and that the described plan did not…
Methanol connected to a chlorine-dioxide process Unknown
A correspondent asked whether an atmospheric tank holding at least 10,000 pounds of methanol, piped through a water mixer to a chlorine-dioxide process, fell under process safety management. OSHA…
State UI benefit averages used for 1993 disaster assistance Unknown
ETA told state unemployment agencies to use the attached state average weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts when calculating disaster unemployment assistance for disasters occurring October…
Protective tennis shoes at construction sites
A safety company asked whether steel-toed, steel-shanked tennis shoes could be used at construction sites. OSHA said shoes meeting the cited safety-toe standard could be suitable where site…
Paid leave and the FMLA 1,250-hour eligibility test
A requester argued that paid leave should count toward the 1,250 hours needed for FMLA eligibility. WHD said the test counts hours worked under the referenced FLSA hours-worked principles; paid and…
Light-duty work instead of FMLA leave
An employer asked whether it could require an eligible employee with a serious health condition to accept a modified job instead of FMLA leave. WHD said the employee could take leave despite an…
Fraudulently obtained FMLA leave
WHD responded to employer concerns about fraudulent FMLA leave. It pointed to a regulation removing job-restoration and health-benefit protection for leave obtained fraudulently, and to second and…
Lifting workers on forklift-mounted platforms
A consultant asked which OSHA rules applied when a forklift lifted workers on a secured platform. OSHA said the cited aerial-lift provisions did not govern forklifts and directed employers to the…
Exit-route doorway width at electrical enclosures Unknown
An employer asked about 27 5/8-inch doorways into electrical equipment enclosures. OSHA said its cited exit-route width rule did not apply to the described situation and that, even if it did, the…
UCFE coverage of six additional agricultural promotion boards
ETA ruled that employees, but not members, of six additional agricultural promotion boards perform federal service for UCFE unemployment benefits. It said the boards were federal instrumentalities…
Hard hats while working on scaffolds
A lawyer asked whether a worker on the top scaffold level needed a hard hat when no objects could fall from above. OSHA said the need depended on actual site hazards, including work and travel…
Employer-provided lodging during FMLA leave
A requester asked whether a resident manager could be required to leave employer-provided lodging while on FMLA leave. WHD said doing so would interfere with the eligible employee’s exercise of FMLA…
Mutagenic ingredients in hazard communication mixtures
A testing laboratory asked how to evaluate mixtures containing potentially mutagenic ingredients under OSHA's hazard communication rule. OSHA said in-vitro evidence alone did not establish a health…
Multi-employer health plan after a winter layoff
WHD considered a construction employer that closed a site and laid off all workers while one worker was on FMLA leave. It said contributions to a multi-employer health plan could stop if the…
IWC Order coverage turns on the employer's primary function, not an affiliate's business
An attorney asked DLSE whether a printing firm's employees were covered by the publishing/newspaper Wage Order (Order 4) because an affiliated company's primary product was a direct-mail advertising…
Deferred cash instead of health coverage during FMLA leave
WHD considered a plan letting workers choose full medical coverage or deferred compensation equal to part of its cost. It said an employer could not offer an FMLA-leave option that failed to…
Designation and notice of FMLA leave Unknown
A requester asked whether an employer could designate maternity or sick leave as FMLA leave near the employee’s return. WHD said the then-current rules required timely notice and barred retroactive…
Work contact and insurance premiums during FMLA leave
WHD responded to an employer with an employee who left urgently for FMLA leave while important projects were unfinished. It said the rules did not specifically forbid contacting the employee to ask…
Crane workers and observers near overhead power lines Unknown
A lawyer asked who was responsible when a crane operated near energized power lines and whether an oiler could serve as the observer. OSHA said the employer had to maintain clearance or deenergize…
Crane-mounted personnel platforms and upper controls Unknown
A contractor asked whether a crane-mounted work platform met OSHA requirements. OSHA declined to approve the product from an advertisement but explained that upper controls were required for…
Slower work pace and restricted-work logs Unknown
An employer asked whether an employee doing every normal task at a slower pace had restricted work for OSHA log purposes. OSHA said that situation did not meet its then-current restricted-work…
Acupuncture and massage on injury logs Unknown
A safety professional asked whether back cumulative trauma was an illness or injury and when acupuncture or massage made a case recordable. OSHA classified back cases as injuries, treated…
Remote sales worksite and New Jersey family leave
WHD considered sales representatives without fixed worksites who reported to New Jersey headquarters. It said that headquarters was their FMLA worksite for the 50-employees-within-75-miles…
Tremont Nail self-funded health plan under ERISA Unknown
A claims administrator asked about a self-funded health plan covering only Tremont Nail employees. EBSA found an ERISA single-employer welfare plan, not a multiple employer welfare arrangement, so…
Illnesses contracted outside OSHA's geographic reach Unknown
An employer asked how to record illnesses contracted while workers were outside the United States. OSHA said log duties did not cover employees outside the Act's geographic scope and that symptoms…
Backup alarms on construction forklifts Unknown
A lawyer asked whether construction forklifts needed backup warning signals. OSHA said backup alarms were not required for forklifts used in construction and noted it did not compile the requested…
Student interns still need a minor work permit even if not legal 'employees' under the wage orders
An employer's attorney asked DLSE to confirm that students in a proposed school-partnered internship program were not "employees" under the wage orders and that the company need not obtain work…
Teachers and bloodborne-pathogen vaccine duties
A congressman asked whether teachers had to be offered hepatitis B vaccination under OSHA's bloodborne-pathogens rule. OSHA said coverage depended on reasonably anticipated work-related blood…
FMLA coverage of employees working overseas
WHD considered employees stationed full time in Russia under one- or two-year contracts. It said the Department administered FMLA for employees working in the United States, the District of…
Temporary staffing firms as joint FMLA employers
WHD explained how temporary-help and leasing companies can be joint employers with client businesses under FMLA. Both count jointly employed workers for coverage and eligibility; the primary…
Employee leasing health program as a MEWA Unknown
A requester asked whether the ERM employee leasing program was a MEWA. EBSA found that at least one client actually exercised employer control over participating workers; absent an indication that…
Capital Metro retirement savings plan as governmental Unknown
A Texas transit authority asked whether its retirement and savings plan was a governmental plan. EBSA found the authority was a public instrumentality under its statutory powers and…
Toyota disability salary payments as payroll practices Unknown
An employer asked whether two short-term disability and salary continuation programs were ERISA welfare plans. EBSA said payments from its general assets during medical absences, at normal pay or a…
Approval of battery-powered cleaners in hazardous locations
A federal procurement official asked which OSHA approval rules governed battery-powered sweepers and scrubbers. OSHA said they were not powered industrial trucks under the cited rule; in hazardous…
Volunteers and the FMLA employee count
WHD considered whether volunteers counted toward FMLA employee thresholds at a nonprofit organization. It said volunteers were not employees for this purpose and should not be counted. On the stated…
General-industry confined-space rules at construction sites Unknown
A construction association asked how the new general-industry permit-space rule affected construction contractors. OSHA said it would use applicable construction standards or the general duty clause…
Defective stainless steel piping stub ends Unknown
OSHA reviewed tests of defective stainless steel pipe stub ends installed in workplace piping. It said poor weld penetration could cause early fatigue failure and that manufacturers' certifications…
Employer safety responsibilities for work at home Unknown
A correspondent asked how home-based work affected OSHA's role. OSHA said employer-directed materials, equipment, and methods still carried safety responsibilities, while it reserved judgment about…
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.