The Department of Labor's Office of Administrative Law Judges is the "trial
court" for many of the Department's programs. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
and has eight District Offices. Judges hear cases involving a wide variety of
labor-related actions, such as black lung benefits, longshore workers'
compensation, immigration-related alien labor certifications and enforcement actions, nuclear
and environmental whistleblower cases, Fair Labor Standards Act enforcement actions, and
OFCCP civil rights actions. These are only a few examples. The Office of Administrative Law
Judges also houses two appellate boards: the Board of Contract Appeals (BCA), and the Board
of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA). For additional information, see About OALJ
OALJ is NOT affiliated with the Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission (OSHRC), which is an independent Federal agency created to
decide contests of citations or penalties resulting from OSHA inspections of American work
places; the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review
Commission, which is an independent adjudicative agency that provides administrative trial
and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health
Amendments Act; the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB), which is an independent Federal agency created to enforce the National Labor
Relations Act; or the Employees'
Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), which was created to hear and make final appellate
decisions on claims of federal employees arising under the Federal Employees' Compensation
Act (FECA).