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 To petition for a significant guidance document to be created, modified, reconsidered, or rescinded, email the Department of Labor.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
Search Tips
- If you are searching using an acronym, try a second search with the acronym spelled out. For example, if you are searching for guidance related to the Davis-Bacon Act, try searching "Davis-Bacon Act" as well as "DBA".
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Proposed modifications to the Biro All-Purpose Cutter. - [1910.212]
Accidental tipping over of a tower type scaffold. - [1926.451]
Whether or not a piece of equipment would meet the intent of 1910.242. - [1910.242]
Clarification of 1910.212 and 1910.242 as applying to hand-type office paper cutters and sharp edged hand tools. - [1910.212; 1910.242]
Spray Finishing and Mechanical Power Presses. - [1910.107; 1910.217]
Flammable and Combustible Liquids. - [1910.106]
Guarding of cotton ginning equipment standards. - [1928.57]
Wire rope were used as a bull wire. - [1926.251]
This letter discusses that Section 13(b)(2) of the FLSA provides an exemption from its overtime provisions for any employee of an employer subject to Part 1 of the Interstate Commerce Act.
Clarification of what constitutes lashing or stability for portable scaffolds. - [1910.28; 1910.66]
This letter provides a discussion as to whether a qualified ambulance attendant riding in the rear portion of the ambulance with the patient being transported is an "outside helper" under the FLSA.
Certain provisions of 1910.184, Slings. - [1910.184]
Guarding of machinery used in the processing of seed corn. - [1928.57; 1910]
This letter provides a discussion as to whether a specific plan designed to provide employees an attendance bonus meets the requirements under section 7(e)(2) of the FLSA. It also discusses section 548.3(e) which permits an employer to omit from the computation of overtime certain incidental payments under certain circumstances.
Cut-and-cover operation regulations of Excavation, Trenching, and Shoring. - [1926.800]
Deductions under the FLSA for expenses incurred by employees on behalf of their employer in the purchase, replacement, and maintenance of uniforms required by the employer or by the nature of the work to be performed
OSHA is neither geared nor authorized to evaluate or approve designs and specifications or equipment. - [1928]
Clarification of 1910.184. - [1910.184]
Agricultural farm equipment standards. - [1928.57]
OSHA may not approve, endorse, or recommend any product or process. - [1910.107]
Emergency venting for portable tanks. - [1910.106]
Guarding of Farm Field Equipment, Farmstead Equipment, and Cotton Gins. - [1928.57]
Alloy Steel Chain Slings. - [1910.184]
Allowable Airborne Concentrations of Mercury. - [1910.1000]
Extensible Ladders and the requirement for upper and lower controls. - [1910.67]
Showers and lunch areas. - [1910.141]
This letter provides answers to several questions regarding hours worked and compensation to be paid to registered nurses attending the training courses under section 785.31.
The handling, storing, and using of Methylacetylene- Prepadiene, Stabilized (MPS) gas in below ground-level construction work. - [1926.350]
Personnel Protective Equipment - Steel Erection. - [1926]
Airborne mixtures containing less than 1.0 or 0.1 percent of a carcinogen are exempt - [1910.1003; 1910.1016]
Sewing machine guards. - [1910.212]
This letter explains that Section 13(b)(6) of the Act exempts from the overtime requirements "any employee employed as a seaman."
Electrostatic Paint Spraying. - [1910.94; 1910.107]
Whether liquified flammable gases are considered as included under the requirements of Flammable and Combustible Liquids. - [1910.106]
A variance from Machine Guarding, Point of Operation Guarding. - [1910.212(a)(3)(iii)]
This letter addresses several questions regarding facts concerning employees who are involved in construction and expansion of physical facilities and whether the employees are subject to section 13(a)(3) exemption.
Mills and calendars in the rubber and plastics industries. - [1910.261(a)]
The Student Union would not constitute an activity performed in connection with the operation of the college enterprise so as to create an employer-employee relationship between the Student Union Board members and the College within the contemplation of the Act. Without the prerequisite employment relationship, the law's monetary provisions would not apply and the matter of reimbursement would be one for private agreement between the concerned parties.
Use of Mapp gas, oxygen, and acetylene in a tunnel. - [1926.155(j); 1926.800(c)]
Methylacetylene-propadiene, stabilized, by definition, is not a liquefied petroleum gas, but is considered as a fuel gas. - [1926.350; 1926.800]
The handling, Storing and Use of MAPP Gas in Underground Construction Work. - [1926.155; 1926.800]
Clarification of temporary vs. portable lighting. - [1926.405(a)(2)(ii)(G)]
Rollover Protective Structures on skid-steer loaders used in agricultural operations. - [1926.1000(a)(2); 1928.51(b)(1)]
This letter discusses several questions regarding economic realities in determining the test of employment. The letter also addresses whether a "compulsive worker" will be considered to be an employee under certain conditions.
Underwriters Laboratories and Factory Mutual Research Corp. test and list approved containers. - [1926.152; 1926.155]
Clarification on OSHA requirements for hoist cables on cranes. - [1910.179(h)(2)(i)]
An interpretation of 29 CFR 1910.67(c)(2)(v). - [1910.67(c)(2)(v)]
Lathes, explosion proof motors and storage tank fill pipes. - [1910.106(b)(4)(iv)(e)]
Safety devices on fixed ladders. - [1910.27(d)(5)]
Application of CCPA Title III to wage assignments.
The location of adequate toilet facilities. - [1910.141(c)(1)(i)]
Campus police employed by publicly operated institutions of higher education, including junior colleges, are engaged in employment which was subject to the Act before the l974 Amendments and, therefore, do not come within the scope of the overtime pay exemptions provided in section 7(k) or l3(b)(20) of the Act. 29 CFR 553.8(b). The letter also provides legislative history relevant to the status of these exemptions.
Clarification of requirements for safety latches on lifting hooks. - [1910.181(j)(2)(ii)]
1910.179(b)(4) only applies to outdoor storage bridge gantry cranes with spans over 100ft. - [1910.179(b)(4)]
Requirements when working with or around belt driven machines and motors. - [1910.219; 1910.219(d)(1)]
Medical attention time spent by an employee in waiting for and undergoing a physical examination required by the employer as a requisite for continued employment is to be considered as compensable hours worked. It is immaterial whether the examination is scheduled during the employee's normal working hours or during his or her nonworking hours. It also discusses Incurred cost and when it's compensable.
Clarification of requirements that exit routes be maintained clear of all obstructions. - [1910.36; 1910.37; 1910.37(a)(3); 1910.36(g)(2)]
This letter provides a disucssion regarding a specific set of facts involving employees driving a commuter van in a "Vanpooling" program where the time spent by employees driving the commuter vans would not constitute compensable hours of work within the meaning of the Act.
The cab entrance height of a log skidder. - [1910.266(f)(3)(xiv)]
Activities engaged in by the students in connection with the school publication do not constitute work within the contemplation of section 3(g) of the FLSA and do not result in an employer-employee relationship between the students and the local newspaper.
Provided guidance to Contracting Officers for contract extensions as the Federal Government revised its Fiscal Year timetable for FY 77.
First Aid Training. - [1910.151; 1910.151(b)]
Definition of the phrase "Adequate ventilation" as used in 1910.178. - [1910.178(g)(2)]
Approval of lineman's safety belts and devices. - [1910.268(g)(2); 1926.959(b)(7)]
The diameter of standard pipe railings. - [1910.23(e)(3)(ii)]
Ladder trucks and tower trucks. - [1926.453(b)(1)]
Warehouses in which Class 1A and Class 1B liquids are stored. - [1910.106(d)(5)(v)]
Use of guardrails and swivel locks on mobile scaffolds. - [1910.29(a)(3)]
Whether employees of a State's fish cultural station are exempt under Section 13(a)(5) under the FLSA
Electric blasting machine. - [1926.900; 1926.906]
Discussion of general principles involved in determining what constitutes working time under Part 785 for employees who spend time traveling between various job sites. Discussion on travel that is all in a day's work, principal activity; travel away from home, and portal to portal act provisions. 29 CFR 785.35, 785.50, 790.7 and 790.9.
Whether the retirement program established for employees of the Valley Authority, a political subdivision of the State, is a governmental plan and therefore exempt from coverage under the ERISA.
Whether the retirement plan established by the Irrigation District, a political subdivision of the State, qualifies as a "governmental plan" and therefore exempt from coverage under ERISA.
Whether the hospitalization, health insurance, life insurance, and pension plans established by the District, a regional sewage authority created by special act of the General Assembly, qualify as "governmental plans" under ERISA and therefore are exempt from ERISA coverage.
Whether the retirement plan for employees of the Public Library District qualifies as a "governmental plan" and therefore is exempt from ERISA coverage.
Whether the retirement plan established by the Board of Education of the Regional School District for its employees qualifies as a "governmental plan" under the ERISA and is therefore exempt from coverage.
Whether the Employees Retirement Program (Plan) established by the Housing Authority qualifies as a "governmental plan" under ERISA and is therefore exempt from coverage.
Whether the pension plan of the Fire Protection District is covered under the provisions of ERISA and therefore is exempt from coverage.
Whether a pension plan for employees of a wholly owned instrumentality of the state that is exempt from Federal income tax is a governmental plan and therefore exempt from coverage under section 4(b)(1).
Whether a loan made by the Teachers' Pension Fund to the City is subject to the provisions of ERISA.
Clarification of first aid training for pharmacists. - [1910.151(b)]
Whether the Company’s unfunded non-qualified retirement benefit program (Pension System) is covered under ERISA.
Whether the Secretary of Labor has the authority under ERISA to grant a three- or four-year delay in the application of minimum participation standards for pension plans, specifically regarding the inclusion of employees with one year of service.
Whether money deducted from employees’ compensation and forwarded to various vacation and holiday funds may be reforwarded to the union to pay working dues.
This inquiry addresses two questions regarding the joint and survivor annuity provisions of ERISA: (1) whether a joint and survivor is required under a defined contribution plan that provides for lump-sum distributions but allows employees to direct the value of their account to purchase an annuity; (2) whether a plan must provide for a joint and survivor annuity, regardless of the wishes of a surviving spouse, if the employee dies before retirement but after attaining early retirement age.
Whether the Union Local Accident and Death Benefit Fund (Fund) is exempt from ERISA.
Whether a profit-sharing plan that allows early payment of benefits to employees who leave the company, provided their share is below a certain dollar amount, is permissible under ERISA or whether a one-year break in service must elapse first.
OSHA standards do not cover large laundry nets. - [1910.184]
Clarification of head room requirements for emergency doors and machine guarding. - [1910.36(g)(1); 1910.212; 1910.219]
Clarification of the 200 pounds strength requirement for railings. - [1910.23(e)(3)(iv); 1910.23(e)(3)(v)]
Whether section 2530.200b-3(c) of DOL regulations published on September 8 should be construed to require multiemployer plans to obtain records of hours worked from member employers.
Legality of a proposed loan by a plan to a physician employee shareholder who is also a participant, party in interest, and trustee of the plan under ERISA.
Guidance on independence requirement in ERISA section 103 for accountants retained by an employee benefit plan for purposes of auditing and rendering opinion on financial information required to be included in the plan's annual report. Amended 12/30/75 a
Section 549.1(e) provides, as one of the essential requirements for qualification, that the amounts paid to individuals are determined in accordance with a definite formula or method of calculation specified in the plan or trust. The formula or method of calculation may be based on any one or more of such factors as straight time earnings, total earnings, base rate of pay of the employee, straight time hours or total hours worked by the employees, or distribution may be made on a per capita basis.
Whether the Petitioner-Defendant in the referenced civil action, qualifies as an "employee welfare benefit plan" under section 3(1) of ERISA, given its status as a business soliciting public participation rather than being restricted to people in an employment relationship with the plan sponsor.
Whether a frozen profit sharing trust constitutes an “employee pension benefit plan” or “pension plan” under section 3(2).
Whether the bonding provisions of section 412 of ERISA apply to a person who is both a participant in and a co-trustee for a profit-sharing or money purchase pension plan established by a small, closely held professional corporation.
Whether a defined benefit pension plan containing supplemental early retirement benefits satisfied the requirements of section 204(b)(1)(G) of ERISA.
Supplied air and ventilating air requirements. - [1926.800(k)(2)]
Whether the jurisdictional standard of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) will be used to determine if an employer is "engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce" under ERISA and therefore whether the employer’s would be exempt from ERISA coverage.
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