News & Updates
- New Web-Based Tool to Help Public Verify if Businesses have Workers Compensation Insurance Policy
- Task Force Cape Cod and Islands Regional Public Information Session and Hearing Scheduled for September 22, 2009
- Study Finds State Workers' Compensation Rates Among Lowest in Nation
- DIA Seeks Applications For Administrative Judge Position
- DOL Commissioners to meet with Constituents in Springfield
Welcome from Director George Noel
From auspicious beginnings in 1869 as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fifteen years before the official federal Department of Labor—the Massachusetts Department of Labor, the first such office of its kind in the United States, continues a proud tradition of helping people through an array of programs and services. These include workers’ compensation, public employee collective bargaining and minimum wage laws, labor relations assistance through state mediation and arbitration, occupational injury and illness statistics, providing a vehicle for the public to report suspected cases of workplace fraud and more. Staffed by professional arbitrators, mediators, judges, hearing officers, safety experts, investigators and administrators, the DOL resolves hundreds of cases and disputes each year.Our online presence through this website is just one of the tools we employ to fulfill our dual mission—to protect the general welfare of working people in Massachusetts, and to promote stable, mutually beneficial relationships between employers and employees. Massachusetts continues to be a pioneer in understanding the concerns of working men and women and is working to ensure economic justice for working families. The Commonwealth retains its tradition of protecting employees and promoting stability for employers.
The Department of Labor consists of the following agencies:
- Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) administers the Commonwealth’s workers’ compensation system, providing compensation to workers who are injured on the job.
- Division of Occupational Safety (DOS) administers several workplace safety and health programs, interprets minimum and prevailing wage regulations, and licenses employment agencies. Through its 7c-1 consultation program, DOS also works with employers at no cost to them to help them comply with federal health and safety standards.
- The Division of Labor Relations (DLR), formed in 2007, is the result of legislation to increase efficiency and accountability among the labor relations agencies. DLR encompasses the former Labor Relations Commission, Board of Conciliation and Arbitration as well as the Joint Labor-Management Committee. The DLR enforces the Commonwealth’s labor laws, administers the collective bargaining law for public and private employees in Massachusetts and ensures the swift and fair resolution of labor disputes, in part by offering dispute resolution services to parties to bring about settlement.
- The Joint Labor-Management Committee (JLMC), while falling organizationally within the DLR, retains its unique structure as a forum to resolve disputes between municipal managers and police officers and firefighters and address common concerns. Led by police and fire organization officials, municipal managers and neutral representatives of the public, the JLMC encourages amicable labor-management relations.
Additionally, thanks to an Executive Order signed by Governor Deval Patrick in March, 2008, the Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy was formed to bring together multiple state agencies to share investigative information in an effort to increase enforcement against those employers who commit workplace fraud. The Task Force is focused on employers who commit workplace fraud, which as a result, undercuts those employers who follow the law, and not against other segments of the population. A toll-free hotline has been set up for the public to report anonymous cases of workplace fraud, 1-877-96-LABOR and more information can be found at www.mass.gov/dol/labortaskforce.
I encourage you to take a closer look at this website to see how we can help you. Expanding outreach through online communications is an example of how the Administration of Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray is working to move Massachusetts forward. Let us know how we can improve our online presence by sending your thoughts to the webmaster.