Administrative law judges from the United States Department of Labor's Office of Administrative Law Judges preside over formal adversarial hearings concerning many labor-related matters. The office's mission is to render fair, just and equitable decisions under the governing law and the facts of each individual case. The office also offers complementary methods of dispute resolution while preserving the statutory right to a hearing before an impartial judge.

Hearings concerning claims under the Black Lung Benefits Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act constitute the largest part of the office's work. The Department's administrative law judges, however, also hear and decide cases arising from over 60 labor-related statutes and regulations, including, for example, such diverse subjects as

• grants administration relating to training of the unskilled and economically disadvantaged
• civil rights
• alien labor certifications and attestations
• whistleblower complaints involving corporate fraud; nuclear, environmental, food and pipeline safety; and aviation, railway, and commercial trucking safety
• minimum wage disputes
• enforcement actions involving the working conditions of migrant farm laborers
• child labor violations
• mine safety variances
• OSHA formal rulemaking proceedings
• contract disputes
• civil fraud in federal programs
• certain recordkeeping required by ERISA

The Office of Administrative Law Judges is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Since cases are heard throughout the country, however, District Offices are located in:

• Boston, Massachusetts
• Cherry Hill, New Jersey
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Covington, Louisiana
• Newport News, Virginia
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• San Francisco, California