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FUNCTIONS: The Division of Legislation and Legal Counsel serves
the entire Department by providing legal and programmatic services in a number
of areas which affect all Departmental agencies. Specifically, the Division's
work covers the following areas: legislative activities; legal opinions;
administrative law; ethics; and labor relations.
ORGANIZATION: The Division is headed by an Associate Solicitor
and Deputy Associate Solicitor. There are six supervisory attorneys, fifteen
staff attorneys, two paralegals, one staff assistant, and four clericals.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:
Legislation: The Division's legislative activities fall within
two categories: legislative planning and legislative communications:
Legislative Planning: The Division assists the Secretary and key
Departmental policy makers in developing the Department's and Administration's
overall legislative policy in the complete range of areas for which the
Secretary has responsibility. In addition the Division is actively involved in
drafting legislation to implement these initiatives.
Legislative Communications: The Division coordinates the
preparation and clearance of the Department's views on all relevant legislative
matters. The Division assists the Office of the Secretary, the Office of
Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs and the affected program agencies
in formulating views on pending legislation introduced by Members of Congress
or drafted by other federal agencies. The Department's views are embodied
principally in letters of the Secretary to the Congress, testimony before
Congressional committees, and formal Statements of Administration Policy.
Legal Opinions: The Division assists the various DOL agencies in
interpreting areas of law which cross-cut all agency programs. The most common
area of activity is the application of budget and appropriation laws.
Additional areas include laws and rules which relate to Departmental
organization and personnel, the use of DOL owned or controlled facilities, and
other areas generally relating to government operation.
Administrative Law: The Division provides guidance to all
agencies on the interpretation and application of laws, regulations, and
executive orders relating to administrative law and procedure. These
authorities include the Administrative Procedure Act, the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, and Executive Orders on the
rulemaking process.
In addition, the Division provides overall coordination on the
administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Privacy Act (PA),
and the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Specifically in the FOIA/PA areas, the
Division works closely with the designated disclosure officers of DOL agencies.
Also, the Solicitor of Labor serves as the decisional officer for all
administrative appeals filed under the FOIA/PA. The Division is responsible for
the Department's participation in all litigation involving the FOIA and PA.
The Division has three other areas of responsibility in the
administrative law area: 1) it coordinates requests for DOL officials and
employees to testify in legal proceedings where the Department is not otherwise
a party; 2) it gives legal advice on matters relating to records retention; and
3) it coordinates the authentication of DOL records.
Ethics: The Division assists the Solicitor of Labor in carrying
out his responsibilities as the Department's Designated Agency Ethics Official.
In that role, the Division has overall responsibility for administering the
Department's ethics program. The Division provides legal advice and counseling
to all agency officials and employees on ethics matters, including the areas of
conflict-of-interest and financial disclosure. The Division ensures that
training on these areas is provided to DOL employees as required by the U.S.
Office of Government Ethics. The Division also administers the financial
disclosure system for those employees required by law and regulation to file
financial disclosure reports. Finally, the Division provides advice and
training on the Hatch Act, which governs participation by employees in partisan
political activities.
Labor Relations: The Division provides legal advice and handles
litigation for the Department in all matters involving the Department's
relations with its employees. Specifically, the Division furnishes legal advice
and litigation support to the officials responsible for administering the
Department's equal employment opportunity programs, to officials who manage the
Department's relations with the unions that represent its employees, and to
Agency management in other personnel and employee relations matters such as
employees' appeals challenging disciplinary action taken against them. The work
includes handling litigation brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, as amended, and appearing on behalf of the Department in grievance
arbitrations, in representational proceedings, in unfair labor practice
hearings before the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and in adverse action
cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Cases are litigated before
labor arbitrators, administrative law judges, and in the Federal courts.
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