What is the Department of Labor?

The Department of Labor is the federal department responsible for workers' rights, employment standards, workplace safety, and unemployment insurance. Created in 1913 when Congress separated it from the older Department of Commerce and Labor, the department was originally focused on factory and industrial workers during the Progressive Era. Frances Perkins served as the first female Cabinet member as Secretary of Labor under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945. She helped design Social Security, the federal minimum wage, and the 40-hour workweek. The department's headquarters is the Frances Perkins Building in Washington, D.C., named in her honor.

The Department of Labor enforces more than 180 federal laws covering roughly 150 million workers and 10 million workplaces. Its responsibilities include enforcing minimum wage and overtime laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, ensuring workplace safety under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, protecting workers from job discrimination based on age, regulating private retirement and health benefit plans, helping veterans find civilian employment, supporting workers who have lost their jobs through unemployment insurance and job training programs, and producing official labor statistics through the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Major agencies within the Department of Labor include the Wage and Hour Division, which enforces minimum wage and overtime rules; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which inspects workplaces and sets safety standards; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Employment and Training Administration, which oversees state-run unemployment insurance and job training programs; the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which enforces equal employment requirements for federal contractors; and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the monthly jobs report and other key economic indicators.

The Secretary of Labor advises the President on workforce and employment issues, represents the United States in international labor forums such as the International Labour Organization, and works with state labor agencies on enforcement and program administration. Recent Secretaries include Marty Walsh, Julie Su, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer.