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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Backup alarms on industrial trucks at maritime worksites Unknown
A maritime employer asked whether powered industrial trucks needed backup alarms. OSHA said the cited maritime and general industry rules did not expressly require an alarm, but existing alarms…
Lockout and radiation hazards at television towers Unknown
A state attorney general asked whether OSHA’s lockout rule applied to television transmission towers. OSHA said the telecommunications rule left other applicable standards in force and that lockout…
Permanent job changes and restricted-workday counts Unknown
An employer asked when to stop counting restricted days on the former injury log. OSHA said a permanent modified assignment ended the count once the worker could perform all duties of the new job,…
Recording bloodborne pathogen exposure incidents Unknown
A gas industry association asked when bloodborne pathogen exposure incidents had to be logged. OSHA said incidents were evaluated as injuries and became recordable with specified work consequences,…
Forklift use in combustible dust atmospheres
A state labor official asked whether an ordinary powered industrial truck could dump hexamine where combustible dust clouds might form. OSHA said the described operation violated the cited…
Process hazard analysis deadlines with one or two covered processes Unknown
An employer asked how process hazard analysis percentage deadlines applied at sites with just one or two covered processes. OSHA said a single covered process generally had to be analyzed in full by…
Revised first-aid response times for construction sites Unknown
A construction employer asked how near medical help needed to be. OSHA revised its earlier answer, saying first aid should begin within three to four minutes where life-threatening injuries were…
Bloodborne pathogen coverage for ear-piercing workers
An OSHA region asked whether ear-piercing workers were covered by the bloodborne pathogens rule. OSHA said blood contact during piercing was part of their main job, and employers had to evaluate the…
Physical qualifications for crane operators Unknown
An equipment operator asked whether physical requirements printed in an OSHA training manual barred him from crane work. OSHA said those criteria came from an older consensus standard and that its…
Western Growers Assurance Trust as a MEWA Unknown
A requester asked whether a California growers' health trust escaped MEWA status because some benefits appeared in union contracts. EBSA found the employer-controlled trust could set prices and…
Transfer of terminated truckdrivers legal-plan assets Unknown
Counsel for jointly administered labor-management trusts asked whether a terminated legal-services plan could transfer excess assets to a related welfare plan. EBSA said shared trustees alone do not…
Recording occupational bloodborne pathogen exposure incidents Unknown
An employer asked when a bloodborne pathogen exposure belongs on its injury log. OSHA said contact with non-intact skin or mucous membranes may be recordable when it results in specified…
Fire extinguisher training and incipient fire brigade monitors
A chemical facility asked about extinguisher training and whether its incipient stage fire brigade could use large water monitors. OSHA said the described annual training met the extinguisher…
Bloodborne pathogen precautions in organized sports
A sports medicine physician proposed precautions for bleeding athletes. OSHA said employers must identify workers with occupational exposure, agreed that trainers and team physicians would have…
Recording bloodborne pathogen injuries on the OSHA 200 Log Unknown
An industry association asked when bloodborne exposure should be entered on the OSHA 200 Log. OSHA said an exposure to mucous membranes, non-intact skin or through the skin was recordable when it…
Recording an injury during business trip recreation Unknown
An employer asked whether to keep a snowmobiling injury from a business trip on its OSHA 200 Log. OSHA said the answer depended on whether the activity involved transacting or promoting business; if…
Recording burns and antiseptic treatment Unknown
An employer asked when burns and treatment with antiseptics were recordable on the OSHA 200 Log. OSHA said non-pinhead second degree and all third degree work-related burns were recordable…
Recording cumulative trauma disorders on the OSHA 200 Log Unknown
An employer asked whether an employee’s stiffness should be recorded as a cumulative trauma disorder. OSHA said a subjective symptom without medical treatment, lost workdays or job transfer did not…
Hatch Net fall protection and opening guards Unknown
OSHA sent its regional office a unified reply about a proposed hatch safety net. The attached letter said then-current opening rules required guards or covers, so the net was not equivalent…
Distributing the UCFE agricultural-board coverage ruling to tax and appeals staff
ETA told state agencies to give the UCFE agricultural-board coverage ruling from UIPL 23-92 to tax and appeals staff, who had been omitted from the original distribution. It repeated that employees,…
Transfer of terminated carpenters legal-fund assets Unknown
Carpenters fund trustees asked whether a terminated legal-services plan could move its remaining assets to a related welfare fund. EBSA said common trustees alone do not make plans parties in…
Transfer of Alaska laborers legal-fund assets Unknown
A requester asked whether a terminated Alaska legal-services fund could transfer remaining money to a related health and welfare fund. EBSA said the plans were not parties in interest merely because…
OSHA jurisdiction over injuries to members of the public
A person asked OSHA for help with an injury claim involving a moving company. OSHA said its statute addresses employer duties to employees at work, not injuries to members of the public caused by…
Recording fractures, burns, eye injuries and treatment Unknown
An employer asked about several injury recording situations. OSHA described when fractures, second degree burns, eye treatment and repeated heat or cold therapy were recordable under its…
Hazard communication labels for fire extinguishers
A fire protection company asked whether hazardous chemical labeling rules applied to fire extinguishers. OSHA said extinguishers containing hazardous chemicals, including compressed gas, required…
Alternative methods for Benefits Quality Control investigations Unknown
ETA directed state agencies to begin using revised methods for Benefits Quality Control investigations in July 1993. It retained in-person claimant interviews and generally in-person work-search…
Hazard communication coverage of drugs in veterinary work
A lawmaker asked how the Hazard Communication Standard applied in veterinary practices. OSHA said hazardous drugs and chemicals are covered, with exceptions for certain retail consumer packages,…
Generic safety data sheets for fertilizer mixtures
A consultant asked whether fertilizer makers needed a separate material safety data sheet for every nutrient combination. OSHA said a generic sheet could cover mixtures with the same hazards if it…
Process safety coverage of flammable spray painting Unknown
A manufacturer asked whether flammable paint used in spray operations triggered process safety management. OSHA said covered operations depended on the 10,000 pound threshold and how a process or…
Employer premium trust and medical plan assets Unknown
An employer asked whether money it set aside in a revocable premium trust belonged to its employee medical plan. EBSA said the separate policy trust and insurance policy were plan assets, but the…
Help-wanted ads during a strike must explicitly disclose the labor dispute, Labor Code section 973
DLSE wrote to an employer engaged in an active strike after its newspaper help-wanted advertisement for maintenance mechanics, a position covered by the expired collective bargaining agreement,…
A short plant shutdown of 10 days or less with a set return date is not a termination requiring final-wage payment
An attorney asked DLSE how planned short-duration facility shutdowns (about a week each) would affect an employer's final-wage obligations under the Labor Code. DLSE explained its long-standing…
Disposal of toenail debris in podiatry practices
A podiatrist asked whether toenail particles and dust required regulated waste disposal. OSHA said particles are potentially infectious only if contaminated with blood or other specified material.…
Disinfectant exposure and bloodborne pathogen duties
A dental safety consultant raised concern that increased disinfectant use could expose workers to chemicals. OSHA said the bloodborne pathogens standard required suitable decontamination and that…
Affiliated mutual fund fees under PTE 77-4 Unknown
A trust company asked whether its plans could invest in affiliated mutual funds under a prohibited transaction exemption. EBSA said the described waiver of investment advisory fees could satisfy the…
PNC affiliated funds and service fees under PTE 77-4 Unknown
A financial group asked whether plans it managed could buy affiliated mutual fund shares while its affiliates received fees for additional services. EBSA said the exemption did not require crediting…
Optional unemployment denials for school employees between terms Unknown
ETA revised its interpretation of optional unemployment benefit denials for school employees between academic terms and during breaks. It said states may limit a denial to selected classes of…
Wood dust sampling and cyclone use
A public health researcher questioned a sampling instruction for wood dust. OSHA said the reference to respirable sampling was a typographical error, corrected its information system, and added a…
Disaster unemployment benefit amounts for April–June 1993 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 1993. States…
A temporary-help firm employing garment workers must register as a garment manufacturer
A Florida-based staffing company asked DLSE why it would need to register as a garment manufacturer if it merely employs and supplies workers to perform garment-industry services for clients. DLSE…
DLSE will keep enforcing the Wage Orders' gross-negligence wage deduction, but warns it may be void as against public policy
An employer's HR representative asked DLSE to define "simple" versus "gross" negligence for purposes of deducting the cost of lost or damaged equipment from an employee's final paycheck, and whether…
A flat 1/24th-of-annual-salary payday schedule doesn't satisfy Labor Code section 204's pay-period timing rules
A law firm asked whether an employer could pay both exempt and non-exempt salaried employees exactly 1/24th of their annual salary on the 15th and last day of each month, regardless of the actual…
Fire extinguishers and toeboards in home construction
A home builder proposed keeping fire extinguishers in crew trucks and using a low wall plate as a toeboard. OSHA said truck extinguishers did not meet its concern because workers reaching the truck…
Blood product labeling exemption for diagnostic kits
A diagnostics company asked whether its FDA-reviewed blood product labels satisfied an OSHA exception. OSHA said the described labels appeared to meet the exception, while employees handling the…
Contaminated uniforms under the bloodborne pathogens standard
A police association asked who must clean contaminated uniforms. OSHA said federal OSHA lacked jurisdiction over local and state police, then explained its private sector rule: a uniform functioning…
Emergency response training for marine oil spill cleanup
An oil company asked whether its trained hazardous materials technicians could clean up a marine oil spill during emergency response. OSHA said they could if they were its own initial responders,…
Interim confined space enforcement for utility underground work Unknown
An internal OSHA memo addressed permit required confined space enforcement in utility manholes and vaults. It directed staff to consult a deputy director before citing these facilities while the…
Guarding tabletop centrifuges Unknown
A device maker asked whether machine guarding provisions applied to tabletop centrifuges. OSHA said a specific rotating barrel provision did not apply, but the general guarding rule covered hazards…
Policy framework for the 1993 Summer Challenge youth program Rescinded
ETA set out a provisional framework for the proposed 1993 Summer Challenge program for economically disadvantaged youth. It addressed supervised work, academic enrichment, program oversight, data…
Process safety threshold for listed chemicals and compounds Unknown
An environmental services firm asked when listed chemicals and compounds trigger process safety management. OSHA said Appendix A thresholds applied to pure listed chemicals unless the entry…
Radiofrequency protective clothing performance criteria
The FCC asked OSHA about radiofrequency protective clothing. OSHA said effective use depends on breakdown threshold, surface heating, absorption reduction, maintainability, and complete body…
Hydrogen sulfide respiratory protection during tank gauging
A motor carrier association asked about hydrogen sulfide exposure at crude oil tank hatches. OSHA said employers needed exposure determinations for the work and, for sour crude gauging, monitoring…
Human albumin under the bloodborne pathogens standard
A manufacturer asked OSHA to exclude heat-treated human albumin from its bloodborne pathogens standard. OSHA declined because the product remained within the standard’s definition of blood. It…
Grounding continuity and extension cord indicator lights
A seller asked whether a built-in light on an extension cord satisfied continuity testing. OSHA said the light showed the cord was energized but gave no information about the continuity of its…
Michigan builders health plan fully insured under proposed contract Unknown
A requester asked whether a proposed insurance agreement would make a Michigan builders' health program fully insured. EBSA said yes, if executed as described: the insurer would owe all covered…
Proper recording of a hepatitis A exposure for OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping purposes Unknown
An employer asked how to record employees’ possible hepatitis A exposure. OSHA said an exposure alone is not recordable unless an employee develops an infection or disease; preventive care by itself…
Frame grounding of arc welding machines
An engineering company asked how OSHA’s construction rules apply to frame grounding on portable, engine-driven arc welding machines. OSHA said the machines are basically portable generators and that…
Recording cases on the OSHA log that involve bloodborne pathogens Unknown
OSHA told regional recordkeeping coordinators that an exposure incident involving blood or other potentially infectious material may be recordable under 29 CFR Part 1904. Contact with intact skin…
Meeting labeling requirements of the hazard communication standard for slag wool
A slag wool manufacturer asked whether it could use signs and shipment documents instead of attaching labels directly to bales. OSHA agreed that the proposed methods could meet the Hazard…
On-call beeper time may be compensable when employer control is unreasonable under California's fact-specific test
A law firm representing a rural hospital asked DLSE to clarify when beeper-based on-call time, where employees must respond within 20 minutes but are not required to stay on the premises, counts as…
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.