History of the U.S. Department of Labor

  • Bureau of Labor established

    Bureau of Labor established
    Established by the Bureau of Labor Act to collect information about employment and labor
  • Bureau of Labor incorperated

    Bureau of Labor incorperated
    It was incorporated as the Bureau of Labor into the Department of Commerce and Labor by the Department of Commerce Act
  • Department of Commerce and Labor

    Department of Commerce and Labor
    It's name changed from Bureau of Labor to Department of Commerce and Labor
  • Department of Labor becomes a Cabinet-Level Department

    Department of Labor becomes a Cabinet-Level Department
    President William HowardTaft signed a bill to establish the Department of Labor a Cabinet-Level Department
  • Unemployment becomes a focus

    Unemployment becomes a focus
    In 1915 the Secretary held a national conference of public employment officials. This resulted in the establishment of a national advisory committee. Siphoning staff and resources off of the Bureau of Immigration's information division and using the 80+ immigration offices throughout the country as employment offices
  • Funding of the Department increases

    Funding of the Department increases
    In 1916 Congress began providing funding specifically for conciliation
  • Finding work!

    Finding work!
    By 1917 the Department had evolved into a a national wetwork. Finding jobs for over 283,000 people
  • War Labor Administration (WLA)

    War Labor Administration (WLA)
    The establishment of machinery to adjust grievances, and sanctioning of the 8-hour day with overtime pay for any time worked beyond 8 hours.To implement this policy, a War Labor Administration (WLA) was set up that put the Secretary of Labor in charge of most of the government's war labor programs. The principal component was the War Labor Board. Head of the board Felix Frankfurter
  • Importing Thousands

    Importing Thousands
    Bringing 110,000 workers into the country from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and enrolling one million workers in a reserve labor force. In early 1918 it began the enormous task of mobilizing 3 million workers for agriculture, ship building and defense plants
  • Good acomplishments

    Good acomplishments
    Almost 4 million men had been placed in jobs. Much had been done to raise living standards and improve working conditions. The WLA provided many ideas and models for the New Deal and for the World War II labor program
  • National Industrial Conference

    National Industrial Conference
    labor unions and the public were equally represented. Unfortunately for labor peace, management refused to agree to a provision endorsing the right of collective bargaining
  • Depression in the Department

    Depression in the Department
    While the employment service operated with greatly reduced staff in the 1920s, it performed much useful service during a time when jobs were relatively plentiful. So even while under staffed this Department was still getting the job done
  • James J. Davis

    James J. Davis
    Leader of the Department from 1921-1930
  • James J. Davis Resigns

    James J. Davis Resigns
    James Davis Resigns as Head of the Department to joing the Senate
  • William N. Doak

    William N. Doak
    Leader of the Department from 1930-1933
  • Frances Perkins

    Frances Perkins
    She served as Secretary of Labor during the entire Roosevelt Administration, from 1933 to 1945, serving longer than any other Secretary in the Department's history.
  • Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933

    Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933
    established the U.S. Employment Service, building on the existing service and adding more resources and so that the USES could maintain. The USES also provided placement and recruitment for programs for the unemployed, including those on unemployment insurance under the Social Security Act.
  • Unemployment at an all time low for the decade

    Unemployment at an all time low for the decade
  • Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

    Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
    set a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour and a maximum workweek of 40 hours (to be phased in by 1940) for most workers in manufacturing. The 40-hour week has not changed in 50 years, but the wage level has risen steadily and the coverage has broadened to include most salaried workers.
  • Wagner Act labor union

    Wagner Act labor union
    membership swelled from 3.8 million in 1935 to 12.6 million by 1945
  • Civil Rights effects the Department

    Civil Rights effects the Department
    In the 1970s following the civil rights movement the Labor Department under secretary George P. Shultz was instrumental in promoting racial diversity in unions
  • Death of Roosevelt effects Perkins

    Perkins left office shortly after Roosevelt died in May 1945. Although harassed by the Dies committee and others because of alleged communist sympathies and publicly hassled for being a woman in a "man's job," in her 12 years as Secretary of Labor her accomplishments both within and outside of the Department were enormous. She established the competence and reputation of the Department at a higher level than ever before and set a standard for it to aspire to in later years.