U.S. Department of Labor -- DOL Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2009

DOL Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2009
Performance and Accountability Report

Report Outline

This report is divided into five sections:

The Secretary's Message is a letter from the chief executive that highlights the Department's achievements for the year and communicates direction and priorities.
Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) introduces the Department's mission, vision, organization, and activities; summarizes program and financial performance and includes management's assurances regarding compliance with relevant financial management legislation.
The Performance Section presents program results and costs and includes assessments of progress achieving performance goals presented in the Department's Strategic Plan and Performance Budget.
The Financial Section demonstrates our commitment to effective stewardship over Federal funds. It includes a letter from the Acting Chief Financial Officer, the Independent Auditors' Report (an independent opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements) and the Annual Financial Statements.
Other Accompanying Information includes top management challenges identified by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and management's response, including progress on those items and related management challenges. This section also includes a summary of financial statement audit and management assurances; details on improper payments reduction activities and results; a list of acronyms; and links to Web sites featuring labor programs and issues.

The seal of the Department of Labor was approved by President Woodrow Wilson on June 21, 1913. It features an eagle with outspread wings above a gold shield divided horizontally by a red band. Gold denotes integrity and red is for courange and endourance.

At the top of the shield is an anvil and at the bottom is a plough; both represent the industry. On the red band are a pulley, a lever, and an inclined plane. They represent the three fundamental principles of mechanics and humanity's efforts to understand and harness the forces of nature for productive ends.

Mission

The Department of Labor fosters and promotes the welfare of job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the U.S. by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices and other national economic measures.

Organization and Program Activities

The Department accomplishes its mission through component agencies and offices that administer various statutes and programs. These programs are carried out through a network of regional offices and smaller field, district, and area offices, as well as through grantees and contractors. The largest program agencies, each headed by an Assistant Secretary, Commissioner, or Director, are the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Employment Standards Administration (ESA)¹, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)², and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The following organization chart and table describes major activities and offices.

Employment and Training
Employment and Training Administration		Provides job training and education, employment, labor market information, and income maintenance services.
Veterans' Employment and Training Service		Helps veterans, reservists, and National Guard members to secure and to maintain employment and reemployment rights.
Office of Job Corps		Provides job training and education to disadvantaged youth ages 16 through 24.
Women's Bureau		Promotes profitable employment opportunities for women.
Office of Disability Employment Policy		Increases employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Unemployment Insurance
Unemployment Insurance		ETA administers programs that provide temporary income support to eligible workers.
Workers' Compensation
Office of Workers' Compensation Program		Provides wage replacement and other benefits to Federal and certain other workers injured at work or who acquire an occupational disease.
Workplace Safety and Health
Occupational Safety and Health Administration		Promotes safe and healthful working conditions for America's workers by enforcing compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Mine Safety and Health Administration		Promotes the safety and health of the Nation's 400,000 miners by enforcing compliance with Federal mine safety and health laws.
Employment Standards Administration		Advances and protects the welfare and rights of, and generates equal employment opportunity for, American workers.
Health Plan and Retirement Benefit Protections
Employee Benefits Security Administration		Protects the integrity of pensions, health, and other employee benefit plans for more than 150 million Americans.
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation		Insures retirement plan participants' pension benefits and supports a healthy retirement plan system.
Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics		Provides economic and employment statistics, including data on employment, wages, inflation, productivity, and many other relevant topics.
International Policy
Bureau of International Labor Affairs		Develops policy and programs relating to international labor activities.

Footnotes

¹Since the end of FY 2009, the umbrella organization known as ESA was formally dissolved in order to establish its four components as stand alone divisions/offices (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Office of Labor-Management Standards, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, and Wage & Hour Division). References to ESA are retained throughout this report because all applicable appropriations, activities, and results occurred under the previous structure.
²PBGC — a Federal corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 — is not included in the DOL organization chart. However, in accordance with the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), PBGC's performance reporting is included in this report because PBGC's performance goals are included in the Department's performance budget.