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November 5, 2008    DOL Home > ESA > Mission Statement   

Employment Standards Administration (ESA)

ESA OFCCP OLMS OWCP WHD
Employment Standards Administration - The mission of the Employment Standards Administration is enhand the welfare and protect the rights of America's workers

Mission Statement

The mission of ESA is to enhance the welfare and protect the rights of American workers.

As an enforcement and benefit delivery Agency, ESA is composed of four major programs: the Wage and Hour Division (WHD); the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP); the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP); and the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).

The Wage and Hour Division enhances the welfare and protects the rights of the nation's workers through enforcement of several Acts: the Federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act; field sanitation and housing standards in the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and, a number of employment standards and worker protections provided in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Additionally, the WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to Federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs increases equal employment opportunities (EEO) for employees of Federal contractors. Through Executive Order 11246, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, OFCCP enforces equal opportunity standards and affirmative action for women, minorities, Vietnam era veterans, and persons with disabilities employed by the more than 200,000 contractors that participate in the Federal procurement process.

The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs mitigates the financial burden on certain workers, or their dependents or survivors, resulting from work-related injury, disease, or death, through the provision of wage replacement and cash benefits, medical treatment, vocational rehabilitation, and other benefits. The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program provides income and medical cost protection and return-to-work services to civilian employees of the Federal Government injured at work, and to certain other designated groups. The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) program provides similar protection to private sector workers engaged in certain maritime and related employment. The Black Lung Benefits program provides protection to the nation’s coal miners totally disabled by pneumoconiosis or to their survivors. The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program delivers benefits to eligible employees and former employees of the Department of Energy, its contractors and subcontractors or to certain survivors of such individuals, as provided in the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. The mission of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program also includes delivering benefits to certain beneficiaries of Section five of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

The Office of Labor-Management Standards promotes internal union democracy and financial integrity and protects certain rights of union members in administering and enforcing provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and related laws. Under the LMRDA, OLMS resolves union member complaints concerning union officer elections, union trusteeships, and other matters pertaining to safeguards for union democracy; administers statutory safeguards for union funds and assets; and makes reports required of labor unions and others available for public disclosure. The Division of Statutory Programs assures that appropriate arrangements are in place to protect the rights of affected mass transit workers when federal funds are used to acquire, improve, or operate a transit system. These statutory requirements are set forth in section 5333(b) of Title 49 U.S. Code (formerly section 13(c) of the Federal Transit Act).

 

 



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