# United States Department of Labor *Cabinet-level executive department of the United States federal government* The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is an executive department of the federal government. Its responsibilities cover the administration of federal law on occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemployment benefits and reemployment services, and at times economic statistics.[^1] The department is led by the secretary of labor, a member of the president's Cabinet who reports to the president directly.[^1] The encyclopedia account in this record describes the department's purpose in the department's own mission terms. Those terms are to foster, promote and develop the well-being of wage earners, job seekers and retirees; to improve working conditions; to advance opportunities for profitable employment; and to assure work-related benefits and rights.[^1] By the same account, the department administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws and thousands of federal regulations. Those mandates reach roughly 125 million workers and 10 million employers.[^1] The record holds no primary document, such as an enforcement count, audit or filing, against which that self-description can be set.[^1] The headquarters building is named for Frances Perkins. She was secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945 and the first woman to sit in a presidential Cabinet.[^1] ## History Congress created a Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1884 through the Bureau of Labor Act. The bureau was housed in the Department of the Interior and was charged with gathering information on labor and employment.[^1] Data collection began in 1884, and the bureau's first report appeared in 1886.[^1] In 1888 the Bureau of Labor was made an independent Department of Labor, though without executive rank.[^1] In February 1903 it reverted to bureau status when the Department of Commerce and Labor was created.[^1] On March 4, 1913, his last day as president, [[William Howard Taft]] signed the bill that made the Department of Labor a Cabinet-level department.[^1] President Wilson appointed William B. Wilson as the first secretary of labor on March 5, 1913.[^1] The same action created the United States Conciliation Service inside the department to mediate labor disputes.[^1] In October 1919, Secretary Wilson chaired the first meeting of the International Labour Organization, although the United States had not yet joined.[^1] The Federal Employees' Compensation Act of September 1916 provided benefits to workers injured or made ill at work. It also set up an agency for federal workers' compensation. That agency moved to the Labor Department in the 1940s and is now known as the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.[^1] President Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins secretary of labor on March 4, 1933. Her 12 years in the post are the longest of any secretary of labor.[^1] The Taft–Hartley Act, passed in 1947, led to the end of the U.S. Conciliation Service.[^1] ## Agencies, boards, bureaus, offices, programs, library and corporation of the department The department's listed units include the following:[^1] - the Administrative Review Board and the Benefits Review Board - the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs and the Bureau of Labor Statistics - the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board and the Employment and Training Administration - the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration - the [[Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs]], the [[Office of Inspector General]], the Office of Labor-Management Standards, the Office of the Solicitor and the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs - the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation - the Veterans' Employment and Training Service, the Wage and Hour Division and the Women's Bureau The list also carries other offices. Under "Other" it names the Wirtz Labor Library and Job Corps.[^1] ## Relevant legislation The encyclopedia entry gives a chronological list of legislation relevant to the department.[^1] The list includes: - the Railway Labor Act (1926) - the Taft–Hartley Act, PL 80-101 (1947) - Fair Labor Standards amendments in 1949 (PL 81-393), 1955 (PL 84-381), 1961 (PL 87-30), 1966 (PL 89-601), 1974 (PL 93-259), 1977 (PL 95-151) and 1989 (PL 101-157) - the Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970) - the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, PL 93-203 (1973) - the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Pub.L. 93-406 - the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (1977) - the Job Training Partnership Act, PL 97-300 (1982) - the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988) The same list records [[Executive Order 11246]] (1965) with the entry "rescinded by Secretary's Order 03-2025."[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *United States Department of Labor* (revision 1378841737, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the department's mission description, history, component units and list of relevant legislation; CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Labor