Who is the head of the Department of Labor?
Rachel Ross
Published Jan 16, 2026
Martin J. Walsh
Secretary of Labor Martin J. Martin J. Walsh was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of Labor on March 23, 2021.
What is the responsibility of the Department of Labor?
To foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
What was the Department of Labor created for?
How do I find my Department of Labor number?
If you have a general question about Department of Labor issues, please call our toll-free number at 1-866-4-USA-DOL (1-866-487-2365).
What are the goals of the Department of Labor?
Who is the Department of Labor in the United States?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is a cabinet-level department of the U.S. federal government responsible for occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemployment benefits, reemployment services, and some economic statistics; many U.S. states also have such departments.
What was the Department of Labor in 1935?
Known then as the Department of Commerce and Labor, it had broad authority over industrial and occupational safety and administration of labor laws. The Wagner-Peyser Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1935, mandated a federal-state partnership for operation of employment service agencies.
The DOL’s goal is to create employment opportunities, protect retirement and healthcare benefits, help employers find workers, encourage collective bargaining, and track changes. The DOL enforces many laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes minimum wage standards and overtime pay.
How many laws does the Department of Labor enforce?
In carrying out this mission, the Department of Labor administers and enforces more than 180 federal laws and thousands of federal regulations. These mandates and the regulations that implement them cover many workplace activities for about 10 million employers and 125 million workers.