Department of Labor

The Department of Labor (DOL) is a federal government agency in the United States responsible for promoting and improving working conditions, protecting workers’ rights, and enforcing labor laws. The agency was established in 1913 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The Department of Labor has several divisions and programs that oversee various aspects of labor policy and enforcement. Some of its main divisions include the Wage and Hour Division, which enforces minimum wage and overtime laws; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets and enforces workplace safety standards; and the Employment and Training Administration, which provides job training and unemployment benefits.

The DOL also collects and publishes data on employment and labor market trends, including information on job growth, wages, and working conditions. Additionally, the agency is responsible for enforcing a range of federal labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Overall, the Department of Labor plays a key role in protecting workers’ rights and ensuring that workplaces are safe, fair, and equitable.

 

 

Hochul signs bills to combat human trafficking – The Gloversville Leader Herald
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Hochul signs bills to combat human trafficking – The Gloversville Leader Herald

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of bills into law Wednesday that aim to combat human trafficking and expand the state’s anti-human trafficking task force and length of duty. The group of six bills will require Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, commercial service airports and bus stops, MTA facilities, truck stops and…

EEOC Releases Strategic Enforcement Plan 2024-2028: Navigating New Horizons In Workplace Equality
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EEOC Releases Strategic Enforcement Plan 2024-2028: Navigating New Horizons In Workplace Equality

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has unveiled its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for Fiscal Years 2024-2028 to further fair and inclusive workplaces. The SEP aims to coordinate the EEOC’s efforts over multiple years to advance equal employment opportunities. It builds upon prior plans, incorporating public input and reaffirming the EEOC’s mission. The EEOC’s…

In Minnesota, a New Model Challenges the Widespread Mistreatment of Construction Workers
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In Minnesota, a New Model Challenges the Widespread Mistreatment of Construction Workers

The campaign’s roots go back to 2016, when the worker’s center, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en La Lucha (CTUL), worked with SEIU, the nation’s second largest union, to organize 600 Target and Macy’s janitors in the Twin Cities, says Burt Johnson, general counsel for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.  He was impressed…

‘There is slavery in the fields of North Carolina’
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‘There is slavery in the fields of North Carolina’

I’ll never forget something that advocate and former farmworker Leticia Zavala said to me during an interview. “There is slavery in the fields of North Carolina.” She said it almost in passing, as part of a larger laundry list of abusive and deadly conditions experienced by farmworkers in the state as part of the H-2A…

GHRC Prison Labor Report Cited as Montana Inmates Deployed to Fight Wildfire
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GHRC Prison Labor Report Cited as Montana Inmates Deployed to Fight Wildfire

Montana state officials praise fire crew with prison inmates; national report, ACLU question pay Keila SzpallerAugust 27, 2023 Daily Montanan (read original here) The Montana Department of Corrections deployed 15 inmates and three correctional officers to help fight a wildfire in the state earlier this month, the DOC said in a news release. The inmates…

US Turns To Country Notorious For Child Labor And Unsafe Mines To Source Its EV Ambitions
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US Turns To Country Notorious For Child Labor And Unsafe Mines To Source Its EV Ambitions

US Turns To Country Notorious For Child Labor And Unsafe Mines To Source Its EV Ambitions Nick Pope on August 24, 2023 In order to facilitate electric vehicle (EV) production, the U.S. is seeking to spend taxpayer dollars to develop cobalt supply chains from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country which is…

Feds Open Probe into Biden’s Handling of Migrant Kids Being Labor Trafficked
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Feds Open Probe into Biden’s Handling of Migrant Kids Being Labor Trafficked

A federal watchdog has opened an investigation into how President Joe Biden’s Labor Department has handled a surge of migrant children being labor trafficked after having been released into the United States interior from the southern border. As Breitbart News has reported for months, Biden’s Labor Department, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of…

Biden admin to fund $4M study linking climate change to child labor, trafficking in Nepal, grant docs show
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Biden admin to fund $4M study linking climate change to child labor, trafficking in Nepal, grant docs show

The Biden administration is funding a $4 million project to determine a connection between child labor and climate change in the South Asian country of Nepal. The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced the availability of $4 million in federal taxpayer dollars to be released through its Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) “to…

Dispute between a Utah farmer and farmworkers triggers probe into fraud and human trafficking
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Dispute between a Utah farmer and farmworkers triggers probe into fraud and human trafficking

Authorities are investigating the former president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation over allegations of fraud and human trafficking following an altercation that left one of his farmworkers in need of medical care, the Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed to NBC News. The probe comes as Ron Bennett Gibson, 50, resigned Tuesday from Utah’s…

Minnesota wage-theft law starts, critics warn of unintended consequences | Finance & Commerce
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Minnesota wage-theft law starts, critics warn of unintended consequences | Finance & Commerce

A new state law that holds contractors and developers responsible for subcontractor wage violations on their jobsites goes into effect Tuesday. The Construction Worker Wage Protection Act, part of the omnibus jobs and labor bill that was signed into law during the 2023 legislative session, “gives workers hope in collecting their unpaid wages for the…