Department of Labor — Federal Agency for Work, Wages, and Worker Safety

The Department of Labor (DOL) is the Cabinet-level federal agency responsible for the welfare of wage earners, job seekers, and retirees across the U.S. economy. It enforces the laws that set minimum wages and overtime pay, keep workplaces safe, protect pension assets, fund job training, and administer unemployment insurance — touching virtually every employer and worker in the country. Created by Congress in 1913, DOL now oversees roughly $14.5 billion in annual spending, most of it flowing through grants to states for unemployment and workforce programs.

Current Law (2026)

Parameter	Value
Established	March 4, 1913
Statutory basis	29 U.S.C. §§ 551–558; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950
Secretary of Labor (2025–present)	Lori Chavez-DeRemer (confirmed March 2025)
Total employees	~15,000 federal staff
Annual discretionary budget (FY2026 request)	~$14.5 billion
WHD back wages recovered (FY2025)	$274 million
OSHA inspectors	~1,850 federal (plus state-plan equivalents)
EBSA plan assets under oversight	$10+ trillion

Legal Authority

29 U.S.C. § 551 — Establishes the Department of Labor as a Cabinet-level executive department
29 U.S.C. § 552 — Vests the Secretary of Labor with authority to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners, improve working conditions, and advance opportunities for profitable employment
29 U.S.C. § 553 — Transfer of functions from earlier Bureau of Labor Statistics; establishes administrative continuity
29 U.S.C. §§ 651–678 — Occupational Safety and Health Act; grants OSHA authority to set and enforce workplace safety standards
29 U.S.C. §§ 1001–1461 — ERISA; gives EBSA authority over private pension and welfare benefit plans
29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. — Family and Medical Leave Act; enforced by the Wage and Hour Division
29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. — Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); minimum wage, overtime, and child labor; enforced by WHD
Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950 — Consolidated scattered labor functions from other agencies into DOL's current structure

How It Works

DOL's work is carried out through a network of sub-agencies, each with its own statutory mandate, enforcement staff, and budget. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is the front-line enforcer of the most widely felt labor laws. With roughly 1,000 investigators nationwide, WHD handles complaints about unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, misclassification of workers as independent contractors, and child labor. In a typical year WHD opens around 25,000 cases; in FY2025 it recovered $274 million in back wages and damages for affected workers. WHD also enforces the Family and Medical Leave Act, meaning that whether your employer has to give you 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave when a family member gets sick is ultimately a WHD enforcement question.

OSHA operates very differently. It sets legally binding safety standards — from permissible exposure limits for chemicals to fall-protection requirements in construction — and enforces them through inspections and citations. With roughly 1,850 federal inspectors covering more than 10 million workplaces, OSHA cannot inspect every employer regularly; it prioritizes high-hazard industries, responds to fatalities and serious accidents, and follows up on worker complaints.

Twenty-nine states and two territories operate their own OSHA programs under agreements with federal OSHA; these "state-plan" states must maintain standards at least as protective as federal requirements and receive 50% federal funding for their programs.

OSHA penalties, long criticized as too low to deter large employers, were substantially increased in 2016 and are now inflation-adjusted annually — a willful or repeated serious violation can reach over $156,000 per instance.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) operates largely out of public view but oversees an enormous pool of private wealth. EBSA enforces ERISA — the 1974 law that set fiduciary standards for private pension and health plan management. With over $10 trillion in private pension and 401(k) assets subject to its oversight, EBSA's guidance on investment options, fee disclosure, and fiduciary duties shapes what millions of retirement savers are offered and charged. EBSA also runs criminal enforcement through its Criminal Investigation unit, which refers cases to DOJ when plan fiduciaries steal from participants or engage in prohibited transactions.

Key Numbers / Programs

Wage and Hour Division: ~1,000 investigators; ~25,000 cases/year; enforces FLSA, FMLA, Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, Walsh-Healey Act, and H-2A agricultural labor standards
OSHA: ~1,850 federal inspectors; maximum penalty for willful/repeat violations: $156,259 (2024, inflation-adjusted); 29 state-plan programs
EBSA: Oversees $10+ trillion in private plan assets; ~700,000 private pension and welfare benefit plans; criminal enforcement since 1989
Employment and Training Administration (ETA): Administers federal-state unemployment insurance system; WIOA workforce grants to states and localities; Job Corps (120+ residential centers, ~50,000 slots); Trade Adjustment Assistance for workers displaced by trade
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA): Mandatory quarterly inspections of underground coal mines; biannual inspections of surface and metal/nonmetal mines; ~1,000 inspectors; authority under 30 U.S.C. §§ 801–965
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP): Affirmative action requirements and pay equity audits for federal contractors and subcontractors with contracts of $10,000+
Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS): Enforces Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA); administers Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for separating service members
Women's Bureau: Established 1920; oldest bureau in DOL; research and policy advocacy on issues affecting working women; no enforcement authority but produces influential wage-gap and workforce data

How It Affects You

If you weren't paid correctly — unpaid overtime, wage theft, or misclassification: The Wage and Hour Division is the agency to call. Workers who file WHD complaints can recover up to two years of back wages (three years if the violation was willful) plus an equal amount in liquidated damages — effectively double pay for the period of underpayment. WHD investigators don't charge fees and can bring cases on behalf of groups of workers. In FY2025, WHD recovered $274 million for affected workers. You can file a complaint at dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact or call 1-866-487-9243. Your identity is protected during the investigation.

If you work in construction, manufacturing, agriculture, or another high-hazard industry: OSHA standards govern your workplace safety — from permissible chemical exposure limits to fall protection requirements, lockout/tagout procedures, and confined-space entry. You have the right to request an OSHA inspection confidentially, to receive information about hazardous chemicals (through Safety Data Sheets), and to refuse work you reasonably believe presents a serious and imminent danger. Retaliation for exercising these rights is illegal under OSHA's anti-retaliation provisions (§ 11(c) of the OSH Act). If your employer is in a state-plan state, contact your state's OSHA equivalent — it must be at least as protective as federal OSHA.

If you participate in a 401(k) or pension plan at work: EBSA oversees your plan's fiduciaries — the people who decide what investment options are available and what fees are charged. ERISA requires plan fiduciaries to act prudently and solely in participants' interests. You're entitled to receive a summary plan description, an annual summary of the plan's financial condition (Form 5500), and fee disclosures for your investment options. If your plan's administrators are stealing from the fund, mismanaging investments, or charging hidden fees, EBSA's Criminal Investigation unit handles referrals to DOJ. File complaints at askebsa.dol.gov.

If you were laid off or your company moved jobs overseas: DOL's Employment and Training Administration runs the federal-state unemployment insurance system — the primary income bridge after job loss. If your job was eliminated because of foreign competition or trade agreements, the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program provides additional retraining support, income supplements, and health coverage assistance beyond regular unemployment. WIOA-funded American Job Centers (there are about 2,500 nationwide) offer resume help, skills assessments, and training program referrals. Find your nearest center at careeronestop.org.

If you're a small employer: The FLSA covers businesses with annual revenues above $500,000 or engaged in interstate commerce (which includes most businesses that ship goods or use credit cards). WHD offers free compliance assistance — fact sheets, online tools, and help lines — to help small employers understand minimum wage, overtime, and FMLA requirements before a complaint triggers a formal investigation. The most common small-business violations are: failing to pay overtime to salaried employees below the exempt salary threshold ($35,568–$58,656, contested as of 2026), misclassifying employees as independent contractors, and failing to count all hours worked.

Pending Legislation

S 2013 (Sen. Hawley, R-MO) — Higher Wages for American Workers Act of 2025: sets a $15 federal minimum wage with annual CPI-W inflation adjustments — an attempt to index the minimum wage so Congress does not need to vote on periodic increases. Status: Introduced.
S 2298 (Sen. Padilla, D-CA) — Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness Prevention Act of 2025: directs OSHA to issue a final heat illness prevention standard requiring water, rest, shade, training, and emergency response plans for outdoor and indoor workers in high-heat conditions. Status: Introduced.
S 2031 (Sen. Murphy, D-CT) — Workforce Mobility Act of 2025: would ban most noncompete agreements nationwide, with narrow exceptions, and authorize DOL and FTC to enforce the prohibition. Status: Introduced.
S 2474 (Sen. Hassan, D-NH) — Advocate for Employee Ownership Act: creates a DOL Employee Ownership Advocate to promote employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and coordinate federal outreach on worker ownership options. Status: Introduced.
S 2418 (Sen. Cotton, R-AR) — HEALING Mothers and Fathers Act: adds FMLA leave coverage for spontaneous pregnancy loss — a gap in current leave law that FMLA does not expressly address. Status: Introduced.
S 1820 (Sen. Baldwin, D-WI) — Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act: would ease the burden of proof in age discrimination cases, allowing mixed-motive claims under the ADEA — reversing a restrictive Supreme Court standard. Status: Introduced.

Recent Developments

DOGE workforce cuts hit enforcement agencies (early 2025): DOL was among the agencies targeted by the Trump administration's DOGE-driven workforce reductions. Hundreds of career employees across WHD, OSHA, MSHA, and ETA received buyout offers or layoff notices in early 2025. Worker advocacy organizations filed litigation arguing that cuts to enforcement staff violated congressional mandates for inspections and complaint processing. WHD and OSHA caseloads don't shrink when staff are cut — fewer investigators means longer backlogs and less deterrence for wage theft and safety violations.
Overtime salary threshold in legal limbo: The Biden administration raised the FLSA overtime salary threshold — the cutoff below which salaried workers are automatically entitled to overtime — in two steps, reaching $58,656 by January 2025. Federal courts, including the Fifth Circuit, struck down or stayed portions of the rulemaking in late 2024, finding that the Department had exceeded its authority by using a salary level that effectively displaced rather than aided the duties test. The Trump DOL signaled it would revisit the threshold, potentially reverting toward the 2019 level of $35,568. As of April 2026, the effective threshold and underlying rule remained in legal uncertainty.
OSHA heat illness prevention rule paused: The Biden administration's proposed federal heat illness standard — which would have required water, rest, shade, and emergency procedures for outdoor and indoor workers in extreme heat — was halted for regulatory review in early 2025. The rule, initiated in response to record heat deaths in agriculture and construction, had been a priority for worker safety groups for years. S 2298 (Sen. Padilla) would require DOL to issue a heat standard, but the Trump DOL's pause leaves the rulemaking timeline uncertain.
Trade Adjustment Assistance targeted for elimination: The FY2026 budget proposal sought to eliminate TAA — the workforce program providing extended benefits and retraining for workers displaced by trade. The administration argued TAA overlaps with WIOA and is poorly targeted. Congress has repeatedly blocked TAA elimination in prior administrations; the program's future in the 119th Congress depends on appropriations negotiations. Workers who lose jobs to trade competition may face a narrowed safety net if TAA is eliminated without an equivalent replacement within WIOA.