Labor and Employment Law: Agencies & Regulations

Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. The Occupational Safety and Health Act covers most private sector employers and their workers.

The OWCP administers disability compensation programs for federal employees which provide wage replacement benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation and other benefits to workers who experience work-related injury or occupational disease. The federal website includes links to State Workers' Compensation Officials' websites for state and private employees.

BLS, an independent statistical agency, is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is responsible for administering and enforcing the fiduciary, reporting and disclosure provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

The MSHA administers the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. It develops and enforces safety and health rules for all U.S. mines, and provides technical, educational and other types of assistance to mine operators.

ODEP manages a number of programs designed to advance disability employment..

The WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and . prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act.

The OIG conducts audits to review the effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and integrity of all DOL programs and operations, including those performed by its contractors and grantees.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by EEOC laws (20 employees in age discrimination cases). Most labor unions and employment agencies are also covered.

PBGC receives no funds from general tax revenues. Its operations are financed by insurance premiums set by Congress and paid by sponsors of defined benefit plans, investment income, assets from pension plans trusteed by PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans. PBGC pays monthly retirement benefits, up to a guaranteed maximum, to more than 861,000 retirees in 4,919 single-employer pension plans that ended.

The FLRA is an independent administrative federal agency created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C, §§ 7101-7135. The statute allows federal employees to organize and bargain collectively.

The NLRB is an independent federal agency that protects the rights of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages and working conditions.

Social Security is the U.S. social insurance program providing retirement, disability, and survivors benefits..

The National Mediation Board is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries. (website currently under renovation.)

Title 29, Labor, includes regulations governing the federal agencies regulating labor and employment issues.

Practice Area - Labor & Employment - Labor & Employment Regulations - Title 29, CFR and by state

State regulations on drug testing, employee protection, hiring practices, retirement and pensions, unemployment compensation, and workers' compensation.

Practice Area or Industry - Labor & Employment Law - All Labor & Employment Law Administrative Codes and Regulations

Labor and Employment, State Statutes and Agency Websites

National Federation of Independent Business (2001-2019).