United States Department of Labor
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| United States Department of Labor |
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| Seal of the Department of Labor | |
| Logo of the Department of Labor | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | March 4, 1913 |
| Headquarters | Frances Perkins Building 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC 38°53′33.13″N 77°0′51.94″W / 38.8925361°N 77.0144278°W |
| Employees | 17,347 (2004) |
| Annual budget | $138.0 billion (2009) |
| Agency executives | Hilda Solis, Secretary Seth Harris, Deputy Secretary |
| Website | |
| www.dol.gov | |
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The department is headed by the United States Secretary of Labor. Hilda Solis is the current secretary of labor. Seth Harris is the current Deputy Secretary of Labor.
The Department of Labor (DOL) fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices, and other national economic measurements. In carrying out this mission, the Department administers a variety of Federal labor laws including those that guarantee workers’ rights to safe and healthful working conditions; a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay; freedom from employment discrimination; unemployment insurance; and other income support. The department is housed in the Frances Perkins Building, which gained its name in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter renamed the facility in honor of Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor from 1933–1945 and the first female cabinet secretary in U.S. history.[1]
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[edit] History
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The U.S. Congress first established a Bureau of Labor in 1888 under the Department of the Interior. Later, the Bureau of Labor became an independent Department of Labor but lacked executive rank. It became a bureau again within the Department of Commerce and Labor, which was established February 15, 1903. President William Howard Taft signed the March 4, 1913 bill establishing the Department of Labor as a Cabinet-level Department.
President Lyndon Johnson asked Congress to consider the idea of reuniting Commerce and Labor.[citation needed] He argued that the two departments had similar goals and that they would have more efficient channels of communication in a single department. However, Congress never acted on it.
In the 1970s, following the Civil Rights Movement, the Labor Department under Secretary George P. Shultz was instrumental in promoting racial diversity in unions.[2]
[edit] Frances Perkins Building
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On October 18, 1974, construction was completed on the New Department of Labor Building (NDOL). Employees begin occupying offices in February 1975.[3] On April 10, 1980, the building was renamed the "Frances Perkins Building."[3]
[edit] Operating units
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Other organizational units within the Department:
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[edit] Related legislation
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.apwu.org/join/women2008/lbportraits/portraits-labor-perkins.htm
- ^ Frum, David (2000). How We Got Here: The '70s. New York, New York: Basic Books. p. 243. ISBN 0465041957.
- ^ a b http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/dpt.htm
[edit] External links
Find more about United States Department of Labor on Wikipedia's sister projects:
- United States Department of Labor Official Website
- Labor Certification Tracker: A Labor Certification tracker that lets users share and discuss the details of their labor applications, reducing guesswork and making it easier to estimate processing times.
- Immigration links A list of frequently used links for employment-based immigrants.
- Department Of Labor Meeting Notices and Rule Changes from The Federal Register RSS Feed
- Proposed and finalized federal regulations from the United States Department of Labor
- Jobs and Occupations in highest demand in USA: 2006 to 2016
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