Guidance Search
The Department of Labor provides this guidance search tool as a single, searchable location where users may search for guidance issued by any of the Department’s agencies, including significant guidance documents under Executive Order 12866. Individual guidance documents are maintained on the various agency websites, and if you know what agency you are looking for, you may also find guidance by navigating directly to that agency’s website. The Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register, which are not maintained by the Department, also include some of the Department’s interpretations of law and similar material.
The Department and its agencies issue guidance to provide clarifying information and technical assistance to the public on existing statutory and regulatory rights and obligations, inform the regulated community about best practices, and provide other useful information. The contents of these documents do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way, except as authorized by law or incorporated into a contract, cooperative agreement, or grant.
Members of the public may petition the Department to modify or withdraw specific guidance documents. To petition for a significant guidance document to be created, modified, reconsidered, or rescinded, email the Department of Labor.
Petitions to Modify or Withdraw a DOL guidance document may also be submitted by mail at the address below. Petitions should identify the specific guidance document by name and include your reason(s) for requesting withdrawal or modification.
U.S. Department of Labor
Office of the Executive Secretariat
200 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20210
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Section 3(m) of the FLSA states that "wage" paid to any employee includes the reasonable cost to the employer of furnishing such employee with board, lodging, or other facilities. The cost of furnishing "facilities" which are primarily for the benefit or convenience of the employer will not be recognized as reasonable and may not be included in computing wages. However, the reasonable cost or fair value of meals actually received may be used in meeting the minimum wage obligation.
Propane pre-heaters used to pre-heat steel in field construction. - [1926.350; 1926.351; 1926.153]
Whether the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) -New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) ¬Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority (MABSTOA) Health Benefit Trust (the Plan) is a "governmental plan," within the meaning of section 3(32) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Interpretation on requirements for guard rail height on ledges. - [1910.23(c)(3)]
Platform support wire ropes with automatic safety locking devices as an alternate to a safety belt attached to cable for covered elevators. - [1926.552]
What constitutes a full-time employee or the equivalent within the meaning of section 541.105(a) of Regulations, Part 541
OSHA's policy on classification of a wet well as a Class 1, Division 1 location. - [1910.309]
OSHA fixed ladder requirements. - [1910.27(d)(1)(vi)]
The information in Appendices A and B of the Lead Standard must be included in employee training. - [1910.1025(l)(1)(iii)]
Review of acceptable housekeeping requirements under the lead standard. - [1910.1025(h)]
Construction of electric transmissions and distribution lines and the use of hydraulic tools. - [1926.951]
Live-line barehand technique used to work high voltage lines. - [1926.955(e)]
A preheat area in a coke oven battery is considered as a regulated area. - [1910.1029]
Safeguarding the point of operation on mechnical power presses. - [1910.217]
The enforcement of 29 CFR 1910.23(a)(9), for floor openings and holes. - [1910.23]
The reduction of air pressure below 30 psi for cleaning purposes. - [1910.242]
Interpretation on the use of power activated fasteners being driven into ductile cast iron ingot molds. - [1926.302(e)(7)]
Audible above is a signal alarm distinguishable from the surrounding noise level. - [1926.601]
Clarification of 29 CFR 1926.855(b) and (f) - [1926.855(b); 1926.855(f)]
Clarification on initial examinations required under the cotton dust standard. - [1910.1043(h)(2)]
The application of the Department's policies on compensable hours of work to drivers employed by highway mail haul contractors who are subject to the provisions of the Service Contract Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Lifelines must be a minimum of 3/4 inch manila or equivalent, with a minimum breaking strength of 5,400 pounds. - [1926.104]
1910.123-1910.126, As Applied to Dip Tanks Containing Varnish for Electric Motor Coating. - [1910.123; 1910.124; 1910.125; 1910.126]
Employees of a food concessionaire operating on the premises of an amusement or recreational establishment, such as a baseball park, will come within the section 13(a)(3) exemption provided the operations of the concessionaire and host establishment constitute a single establishment which meets the requirements for the exemption. This exemption would not apply to employees who are employed by the concessionaire's central establishment or its other establishments which are not on the premises of an amusement or recreational stablishment
1910.218(e)(1)(i) applies to pneumatic drop hammers used in hot forging operations. - [1910.218(e)(1)(i)]
Request for temporary variance to housekeeping requirements for vacuuming under the lead standard; Criteria for portable vacuum machines for vacuuming clothing. - [1910.1025(h)(2)(ii); 1910.1025(i)(4)(iv)]
Sectionalized rail systems. - [1910.23]
Pneumatically operated staplers. - [1910.212; 1910.243; 1926.302]
There is no provision in the FLSA which would require an employer to pay an employee for time spent on jury duty.
Persons such as lay brothers, deacons, ministers, nuns, priests and other members of religious orders are generally not considered to be "employees" within the meaning of the law while serving pursuant to their religious obligations in churches or other institutions operated by a church. In addition, persons who volunteer their service to religious, charitable, and nonprofit organizations, not as employees and without contemplation of pay, are not considered employees within the meaning of the Act.
Training program requirements in the lead standard. - [1910.1025]
The authority to exclude from an employee's regular rate of pay payments made pursuant to a bona fide plan for providing old-age, retirement, life, accident, or health insurance or similar benefits for employees is contained in Section 7(e)(4) of the FLSA. In order for an employer's contributions to a benefit-plan to qualify for exclusion under Section 7(e)(4) of the FLSA, the conditions listed in section 778.215 must be met.
The design of trolley bumpers for electric overhead traveling cranes. - [1910.179]
Employees who must execute liquidated damage payments to an employer as a condition of employment, for failing to give two weeks' notice prior to employment separation, are denied the protection of the FSA when such payments reduce the employees' wages below the required minimum wage.
Use of air on the pushover ram to clean standpipes is an acceptable practice; Filtered air is required for operating cabs; Request for variance on requirements for filtered air for standby wharf pulpi - [1910.1029(f)(2)(i)(g); 1910.1029(f)(4)(i); 1910.102
Evaluation of Evalok automatic fall protection devices. - [1926.104]
ROPS on the Job TB 1200 L excavator. - [1926.602]
Application of section 13(b)(24) of the FLSA provides an overtime pay exemption for any employee who is employed by a non-profit educational institution to serve as the parents of children (A) who are orphans or one of whose natural parents is deceased, and (B) who are enrolled in such institution and reside in residential facilities of the institution. The category of individuals and the type of institution to which they intended the exemption to apply: Namely, children who are orphans and who are enrolled in and reside on the premises of an educational institution (school).
Section 3(m) of the FLSA makes clear that all tips received by tipped employees must be retained by them (except to the extent that a legitimate tip pool exists). It is not permissible under the FLSA to deny tipped employees the use of their tips until sometime subsequent to the dates on which the tips were given them. In the case of tips provided by means of a credit card, the employer may pay cash at the end of the shift and no later than the next regular payday. Where the tips are paid in cash, the employees must retain them.
Clarification of 29 CFR 1910.107 in regard to when sampling for the LEL would be required. - [1910.107]
Personnel protection required for employees working on a Multistage two-point suspension scaffold. - [1926.451]
Respirator air quality standards do not apply where the NRC has jurisdiction. - [1910.134(i)]
Use of air on the pushover ram to clean standpipes is an acceptable practice; Standpipes should be cleaned if 20% of the cross sectional area is clocked. - [1910.1029(f)(2)(i)(g); 1910.1029(f)(3)(i)(a)(2)]
Services provided by facilities which constitute "care" within the meaning of section 3(s)(5) of the FLSA; and employees performing such services are covered by the FLSA and must be paid in accordance with its pay provisions, unless a specific exemption applies.
This letter provides example of various methods of paying overtime utlizing the weighted aveage method. Examples provide include situations which involve higher rates due to union agreement and results in higher amount of wages due.
Employees engaged in hauling newspapers to drop stations, distributing centers, newsstands, etc., do not come within the exemption because they do not deliver to the consumer. Those who deliver newspapers to coin racks also are not engaged in the delivery of newspapers to the consumer; and accordingly, they are excluded from the exemption provided by section 13(d) of the FLSA; see 29 CFR 570.124
Appropriate guarding of lathe chucks. - [1910.212(a)(1)]
Ground Fault Protection. - [1926.400]
Clarification of OSHA guidance concerning the uniform spacing of steps or rungs in sanitary and storm sewer manholes. - [1910.27]
Steel Banding as Guardrails. - [1926.500]
Interpretation of certain provisions of part 4 of title I of ERISA, as applied to payment by multiple employer vacation plans of a sum of money to which a participant or beneficiary is entitiled to a party other than the participant or beneficiary.
Initial monitoring and labelling for inorganic arsenic is not required when exposure could not be above the action level. - [1910.1018; 1910.1018(b)]
The inorganic arsenic standard applies to the manufacture of antimony oxide by the fuming process. - [1910.1018]
Information on fixed ladders and cages. - [1910.27]
Exit Routes. - [1910.36; 1910.36(g)(2); 1910.37; 1910.37(a)(3)]
Clarification of 29 CFR 1910.24(b). - [1910.24]
The blade guard on the Biro All Purpose Cutter. - [1910.212]
Transportation of explosives over public or private roads. - [1926.904]
CPL 00-00-001 [CPL 1.2] - National - Interagency "Early Warning System" - 10/30/1978
CPL 02-00-002 [CPL 2.2] - National - American Red Cross Agreement - 10/30/1978
CPL 02-00-009 [CPL 2.9] - National - Inspections of Granted Variances - 10/30/1978
CPL 02-02-006 [CPL 2-2.6] - National - Inorganic Mercury and its Compounds - 10/30/1978
Defective Doors on Railroad Boxcars Hazard Alert.
Grounding and barricading requirements for lifting equipment used near energized lines. - [1926.955(a)(6)(ii); 1926.952(c)]
Section 3(m) was intended to apply to facilities furnished by the employer as compensation to the employee, regardless of whether the employer calculates charges for such facilities as additions to or deductions from wages. Free room and board provided, in addition to the subminimum wage, would constitute a higher wage. WHD will not consider the free room and board during the summer months in addition to the subminimum wage payment as contrary to section 519.15(h), when the students are subsequently paid only the subminimum wage during the regular school term.
Section 13(a)(3) exempts from the Act's monetary requirements "any employee employed by an establishment which is an amusement or recreational establishment,provided either of the two test are met. Sports Arena is an amusement and recreational establishment and (if it were covered by the FLSA) would be entitled to the exemption. The administrative officer located in a separate establishment on the premises of the Sport Arena, which is not an establishment to which the general public has recourse for its amusement or recreation would not met the section 13(a)(3) exemption for its employees of the sport arena administrative offices.
CPL 02-02-022 [CPL 2-2.22] - National - 29 CFR 1910.1018 Inspection and Compliance Procedures for the Permanent Occupation Exposure Standard for Inorganic Arsenic Compounds. - 10/10/1978
Applicability of the inorganic arsenic standard to operations involving chromated copper arsenate (CCA) wood preservative. - [1910.1018]
The use of fiberglass tanks for storage of crude oil. - [1910.106]
Brazed joints in an oxygen piping installation. - [1910.104]
Working between grounds when working on bare conductors. - [1926.954; 1926.955]
Exemption status of summer resort operation
OSHA concurrence on the use of 3/4" square bars for rungs on fixed ladders. - [1910.27; 1910.27(a)(1); 1910.27(b)(1)(i)]
Section 778.106 overtime compensation earned in a particular workweek must generally be paid on the regular pay day for the period in which the workweek ends. Section 778.211(c), commission bonuses, must be included in the employee's regular rate of pay for purposes of overtime compensation. Section 778.209 when the amount of the bonus can be ascertained, it must be apportioned back over the workweeks of the period during which it may be said to have been earned. The employee must then receive an additional amount of compensation for each workweek that he or she worked overtime during the period equal to one-half of the hourly rate of pay allocable to the bonus for that week multiplied by the number of statutory overtime hours worked during the week.
Discusses whether Employees time spent on-call is compensable. 29 CFR Sections 778.108 and 778.223 describes how the regular rate is computed and how on-call pay is to be treated for purposes of overtime compensation.
The British Standard material valves compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. - [1910.106]
Definition of disposable earnings for purposes of applying the CCPA Title III garnishment limits.
Twist lock receptacles and attachment plugs. - [1926]
Interpretation of the term "bulk plant" as it is used in 1910.106. - [1910.106]
Defines whether certain clothes are considered a uniform, and 3(m).
Back wages under the FLSA is limited by section 6(a) of the Portal to Portal Act to a general 2 year statute of limitations with respect to a cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, overtime compensation or liquidated damages unless the violations are determined to be willful, in which case a statute of limitations of three years applies. When one company acquires another company, the new company's liability for any back wages which may be due from the old company would be limited by the terms and conditions regarding the assumption of liabilities set forth in the purchase agreement.
Clarification of standard 29 CFR 1910.106(b)(4)(iv)(e). - [1910.106]
Duplex Rewinder Bar Guards. - [1910.261]
The investigation of worker job safety complaints performed by OSHA. - [1903.11(a)]
Platen Presses. - [1910.217]
Retention period for inspection and maintenance records for mechanical power presses. - [1910.217(e)(1)(i); 1910.217(e)(1)(ii)]
Spray Finishing Using Water-Base Paints. - [1910.107]
Rollover protective structure application. - [1926.1000; 1926.1001]
Discusses the employee-employer relationship and whether time spent undergoing physical examination in different scenarios is compensatory.
Only alloy steel chain is recommended by chain manufacturers for overhead hoisting. - [1910.184]
Fixed Ladder Used For Emergency Egress Only. - [1910.27]
Regulations applicable to cantilever type personnel hoists. - [1926.552]
Medical surveillance requirements of the coke oven emissions standard. - [1910.1029]
Discusses the regular rate and whether certain payments (e.g. vacation, illness, cost of living adjustments, etc) are to be included in determining the regular rate.
Cages installed on fixed ladders. - [1910.27]
Compensable hours of work of truck drivers employed by mail haul contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Service Contract Act. A major point of discussion involves the position of the Wage and Hour Division with respect to the treatment as hours worked of time spent in sleeper-berths by truck drivers.
Discusses whether section 3(a) of the FLSA applies to "summer staff" members that perform work that otherwise would be performed by employees, and whether the reasonable cost or fair value of such facilities as board, lodging, or other facilities may be included as part of wages paid.
Discusses an employer's obligation under the FLSA to reimburse employees for the cost of, and time spent in, obtaining health certificates required as a condition of employment in food handling and preparation occupations by State, local, or municipal laws, ordinances or regulations
The modification of a refrigerator of freezer chest to store flammable liquids. - [1910.106]
Personnel hoists. - [1926.552]
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