| Years |
Presidents |
Secretaries
Of
Labor |
DOL Dates And Events |
| 1913 |
 |
Woodrow Wilson
(1913-1921) |
William B.
Wilson
(1913-1921) |
DOL Organic Act;
first DOL
headquarters was in the Willard
Building on 14th Street, N.W.
(March 4,
1913)
DOL headquarters is transferred temporarily to the Mills Building at 17th
Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
(July 1,
1914)
Secretary Wilson establishes non-statutory U.S. Employment Service
(USES); see Wagner-Peyser Act.
(January 22,
1915)
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) begins publication of the
Monthly Labor
Review.
(July 1915)
Clayton Act signed; exempted unions from Sherman Anti-Trust
Act.
(October 15, 1915)
DOL issues first compendium
of Regulations of the Department of Labor.
(October 15,
1915)
Keating-Owen Act bans child labor; annulled by Supreme Court, June
3, 1918.
(September 1, 1916)
Federal Employees
Compensation Act; established Office of Workers Compensation
Programs in DOL.
(September 7, 1916)
U.S. declares war on Germany
and its allies; DOL takes
early action.
(April 6, 1917)
DOL headquarters is
transferred to newly built "Department of Labor
Building" at 1712 G St., N.W.
(July 1,
1917)
World War I agency War Labor Administration created in
DOL.
(January 4, 1918)
International Labour Organization (ILO) holds first meeting
in Washington, chaired by Secretary Wilson.
(October 19,
1919)
More than four thousand alleged Communists arrested for deportation under
"Anarchist Exclusion" Act of 1918; DOL refuses to deport the bulk of those
arrested; Secretary Wilson threatened with impeachment.
(January 2,
1920)
Women's Bureau organic
act.
(June
5, 1920) |
| 1921 |
|
Warren G. Harding
(1921-1923) |
James J. Davis
(1921-1930) |
Congress establishes
position of Second Assistant Secretary of Labor to assist with administration
of immigration laws.
(June 30, 1922)
Montana and Nevada enact
first old age pension laws, pre-dating the federal Social
Security Act of 1935.
(March 5, 1923) |
|
1923 |
|
Calvin Coolidge
(1923-1929) |
The Johnson Act
sets strict immigration quotas.
(May 26,
1924)
Railway Labor Act; laid basis for
National
Mediation Board.
(May 20, 1926)
Bureau of Labor Statistics
publishes bulletin No. 420, "Handbook of American Trade Unions," its first
directory of U.S. labor organizations.
(October 9,
1926)
Longshore and Harbor Workers
Compensation Act.
(March 4, 1927) |
|
| 1929 |
|
Herbert Hoover
(1929-1933) |
Congress authorizes Veteran's Division in
USES.
(March 1930)
Congress authorizes DOL to collect unemployment
statistics.
(July 7, 1930)
Fire destroys the records of
the Children's and Women's Bureaus.
(August 31, 1930) |
William N. Doak
(1930-1933) |
Davis-Bacon Act.
(March 3,
1931)
Norris-LaGuardia Act.
(March 23,
1932)
Emergency Relief and Construction Act; created employment through
a public works program.
(July 21, 1932) |
| 1933 |
|
Franklin
D.
Roosevelt
(1933-1945) |
Frances Perkins
(1933-1945) |
Secretary
Perkins becomes first woman to serve in the Cabinet.
(March 4,
1933)
President and Congress create an array of independent agencies as part of
the "New
Deal."
(1933-1939)
Civilian
Conservation Corps established; DOL assists with administration.
(March 31,
1933)
Wagner-Peyser Act; reestablished United States Employment
Service.
(June 6, 1933)
Executive Order (E.O.) 6166
merges Bureaus of Immigration and Naturalization to create new Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) in DOL. E.O. 6166 also transfers Solicitor of
Labor position from Department of Justice to DOL.
(June 10, 1933
)
Legislation authorizing U.S. to join
ILO.
(June 19,
1934)
Division of Labor Standards established.
(July 1934)
Department dedicates new "Main Labor Building" at 14th
St. and Constitution Ave.
(February 25,
1935)
National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), establishing the
National
Labor Relations Board.
(July 5,
1935)
Social
Security Act; included
Unemployment
Insurance (UI) program administered outside DOL.
(August 14,
1935)
Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act.
(June 30,
1936)
National Apprenticeship
Act.
(August 16, 1937)
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); established
Wage and Hour Division in DOL.
(June 25,
1938)
Secretary Perkins threatened with impeachment over Harry Bridges
deportation case; impeachment resolution fails.
(January 24,
1939)
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
first published by USES.
(June 1939)
USES transferred from DOL to
Social Security Board.
(July 1,
1939)
Congress transfers INS to Department of
Justice.
(June 15, 1940)
E.O. 8802 establishes
Fair Employment Practices Commision for defense industries.
(June 25,
1941)
War Remobilization and Reconversion Act establishes Re-employment
and Re-training Administration for veterans in DOL.
(October 3, 1944) |
| 1945 |
|
Harry S. Truman
(1945-1953) |
Lewis B.
Schwellenbach
(1945-1948) |
Employment Act of 1946;
establishes national economic goals.
(February 20,
1946)
Children's Bureau transferred to Federal Security Agency; child
labor functions remain in DOL.
(July 16,
1946)
Taft-Hartley Act; abolishes DOL's Conciliation Service and
establishes independent
Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service.
(June 23,
1947)
Bureau of International Labor Affairs established.
(October 10,
1947)
E.O. 9980 and E.O. 9981 ban discrimination in federal employment
and the military respectively.
(July 26, 1948) |
Maurice J.
Tobin
(1948-1953) |
Congress and President Truman
reorganize DOL.
(1949-1950)
USES and UI system
transferred to DOL.
(August 20, 1949) |
| 1953 |
|
Dwight D. Eisenhower
(1953-1961) |
Martin P.
Durkin
(1953) |
E.O. 10479 establishes the
President's anti-discrimination Committee on Government
Contracts.
(August 13, 1953) |
James P.
Mitchell
(1953-1961) |
J. Ernest Wilkins appointed
Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs; only second African
American to serve in a sub-Cabinet position.
(March 4,
1954)
E.O. 10590 establishes President's Committee on Government
Employment Policy to eliminate discrimination within the federal
government.
(January 18, 1955)
Nine African American
students desegregate Little Rock Central High School; among them is
Ernest Green, later Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training in the Carter Administration.
(September
25, 1957)
Welfare
and Pension Plans Disclosure Act.
(August 28,
1958)
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure
Act.
(September 14, 1959) |
| 1961 |
|
John F. Kennedy
(1961-1963) |
Arthur J.
Goldberg
(1961-1962) |
E.O. 10925 establishes the
President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (in government-funded
employment).
(March 6, 1961)
Area Redevelopment
Act.
(May
1, 1961)
E.O. 10988, Employee-Management Cooperation in the Federal
Service.
(January 17, 1962)
Manpower Development and
Training Act.
(March 15, 1962)
Secretary Goldberg appointed
Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
(September 25,
1962) |
W. Willard
Wirtz
(1962-1969) |
Manpower Administration established; renamed in
1975.
(February 19, 1963)
President Kennedy attends DOL's 50th
Anniversary Celebration.
(March 4,
1963)
Equal
Pay Act.
(June 10, 1963)
Secretary Wirtz establishes
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Planning and Research; predecessor
of Office of Policy.
(July 17,
1963) |
| 1963 |
|
Lyndon B. Johnson
(1963-1969) |
President Johnson signs
Civil
Rights Act of 1964;
Title
VII bans discrimination in the workplace.
(July 2,
1964)
Economic Opportunity Act; created Job
Corps outside DOL.
(August 20,
1964)
Department publishes
The Negro Family: the Case
for National Action, also known as the "Moynihan Report."
(March
1965)
E.O. 11246; established Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs in DOL.
(September 24,
1965)
Service Contracts
Act.
(October 22, 1965)
Age
Discrimination in Employment Act.
(December 15,
1967)
Social Security Amendments establish Work Incentive (WIN)
Program.
(January 2, 1968) |
| 1969 |
|
Richard M. Nixon
(1969-1974) |
George P.
Shultz
(1969-1970) |
Department of Labor issues
"Philadelphia Plan" order requiring affirmative action in the construction
trades.
(June 27, 1969)
Job Corps transferred to
DOL.
(July
1, 1969)
E.O. 11491, Labor-Management Relations in the Federal
Service.
(October 29, 1969)
Federal Coal Mine Health and
Safety Act.
(December 30, 1969) |
James D.
Hodgson
(1970-1973) |
Occupational Safety and
Health Act; established OSHA as of
April 28, 1971.
(December 29,
1970)
Employment Standards Administration (ESA)
established.
(May 4, 1971)
Emergency Employment Act
(public employment jobs).
(July 12, 1971) |
Peter J. Brennan
(1973-1975) |
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA); reorganized
Manpower Administration.
(December 28, 1973) |
| 1974 |
|
Gerald R.
Ford
(1974-1977) |
Employee Retirement Income Security
Act.
(September 2, 1974)
New Department of Labor Building
(NDOL) completed; employees begin occupying offices in February
1975.
(October 18, 1974)
Veterans' Reemployment
Rights Act.
(December 3, 1974)
Trade Act (Trade Adjustment
Assistance).
(January 3, 1975) |
John T. Dunlop
(1975-1976)
|
Secretary
renames Manpower Administration as Employment and Training
Administration.
(November 12, 1975)
President Ford vetoes Common
Situs Picketing Bill; in aftermath
Dunlop
issues statement of resignation.
(January 2,
1976) |
W. J. Usery,
Jr.
(1976-1977) |
DOL Activities in Honor of
Nation's Bicentennial:
The U.S. Department of Labor
History of the American Worker is published by GPO.
DOL commissions musical by Morton Gould titled "Something To Do: A Salute to the
American Worker in Words and Music"; staged on Labor Day 1976 at the
Kennedy Center, Washington, DC.
Artist Jack Beal completes four large murals commissioned by
the Department depicting "The History of Labor in
America."
(1976) |
| 1977 |
|
Jimmy
Carter
(1977-1981) |
Ray
Marshall
(1977-1981) |
Economic Stimulus
Appropiations Act (Emergency Jobs Program).
(May 13,
1977)
President Carter withdraws U.S. from
ILO.
(November 3,
1977)
Federal Mine Safety and Heath Act; established
MSHA in DOL.
(November 9,
1977)
Inspector General Act; established
IG Office in DOL.
(October 1,
1978)
Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act; set new
national economic goals.
(October 27,
1978)
U.S. rejoins
ILO.
(February 13,
1980)
Ceremony renaming NDOL the "Frances Perkins
Building."
(April 10, 1980)
Office of Civil Rights
for DOL programs established.
(Fall 1980) |
| 1981 |
|
Ronald Reagan
(1981-1989) |
Raymond J.
Donovan
(1981-1985) |
Veterans
Employment and Training Service established.
(December 10,
1981)
Job Training Partnership Act; replaced CETA.
(October 13,
1982)
Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection
Act.
(January 14, 1983)
Bureau of Labor-Management
Relations and Cooperative Programs established to promote better labor
relations; agency expired on June 30, 1992.
(May 1,
1984)
Bureau of Labor Statistics celebrates
centennial.
(June 27, 1984)
Retirement
Equity Act.
(August 23, 1984)
Supreme Court issues
decision in case of
Garcia
v. San Antonio Metro. Transit Authority bringing state and local employees
under FLSA.
(February 19, 1985) |
William E.
Brock
(1985-1987) |
Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration established.
(January
1986)
Immigration Reform and Control
Act.
(November 6, 1986)
"Workforce 2000" Report
issued.
(July 1, 1987) |
Ann Dore McLaughlin
(1987-1989)
|
Pension Protection Act of
1987.
(December 22, 1987)
DOL celebrates 75th
Anniversary.
(March 4,
1988)
Employee Polygraph Protection
Act.
(June 27, 1988)
Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act.
(August 4,
1988)
ESA eases
restrictions on home work under FLSA.
(November 10,
1988)
Drug-Free
Workplace Act; basis for DOL's Working Partners
Program.
(November 15, 1988)
Labor Hall of Fame dedicated at
DOL.
(January 11, 1989) |
| 1989 |
|
George H. W. Bush
(1989-1993) |
Elizabeth Hanford Dole
(1989-1990)
|
Secretary Dole visits
Poland after fall of the "Iron Curtain" as representative of President
Bush.
(August 1989)
Secretary's Commission on
Workforce Quality issues report.
(September 4,
1989)
Secretary Dole intervenes in United Mine Workers strike against Pittston
Coal Co. and appoints "super-mediator."
(October 25,
1989)
DOL strike force investigates violations of child labor law; assesses $5.6
million in penalties.
(1990)
Lower "Training Wage" goes
into effect for the first time under FLSA.
(April 1,
1990)
Americans
with Disabilities Act.
(July 26, 1990) |
Lynn Morley Martin
(1991-1993) |
Secretary's
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills issues report.
(July 2,
1991)
Glass
Ceiling Commission created by Civil Rights Act of 1991.
(November
21, 1991)
U.S., Canada and Mexico sign North American Free Trade Agreement (ratified
by Congress in 1993).
(December 17, 1992) |
|
1993 |
|
Bill Clinton
(1993-2001) |
Robert B. Reich
(1993-1997) |
Family
and Medical Leave Act.
(Febuary 5,
1993)
School-to-Work Opportunities Act.
(May 4, 1994)
Report
of the Commission on the Future of Worker-Management
Relations.
(December 1994)
Retirement Protection
Act.
(December 8, 1994)
First DOL Website
launched.
(September 4, 1995)
"No Sweat" program enlists
employers to help eradicate poor working conditions in clothing
industry.
(September 12, 1995)
Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation (Welfare Reform) Act.
(August 22, 1996) |
Alexis
Herman
(1997-2001) |
Secretary Herman intervenes
to help settle UPS strike.
(August
1997)
DOL initiates elaws, an interactive,
web-based tool to assist employees and employers with DOL laws and
regulations.
(November 24, 1997)
E.O. 13078 establishes Presidential
Task Force on the Employment of Adults with Disabilities.
(March 13,
1998)
Workforce Investment Act reorganizes federal employment and
training programs.
(August 7, 1998)
ILO adopts US-supported
Convention
182 banning abusive child labor.
(June 17,
1999)
"Futurework
Report" issued.
(September 6, 1999)
OSHA publishes
Ergonomics Program Standard, regulating repetitive motion hazards, in the
Federal Register.
(November 14,
2000)
Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal 2001 includes
authorization for creation of an Office of Disability
Employment Policy in DOL.
(December 21, 2000) |
| 2001 |
|
George W. Bush
(2001-Present) |
Elaine L. Chao
(2001-Present) |
Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives
established by E.O. 13198.
(January 29,
2001)
Office of the 21st Century Workforce
established.
(March 6,
2001)
Ergonomics
Program Standard is rescinded under the Congressional Review Act. In
response, OSHA develops the
Four-pronged
Comprehensive Approach on ergonomic hazards.
(March 20,
2001)
Terrorist attack on U.S. soil prompts massive Department of Labor mobilization to
aid economic victims.
(September 11,
2001)
First Assistant
Secretary confirmed to head Office of Disability
Employment Policy.
(July 26,
2002)
Secretary Chao intervenes in West Coast dock workers dispute;
President
Bush invokes Taft-Hartley Act.
(October 8,
2002)
Office of Compliance Assistance Policy
established to coordinate and advance DOL efforts to provide workers and
employers with the tools and resources that help them comply with DOL laws and
regulations.
(November 17,
2002)
Secretary Chao
renames PWBA
as the Employee Benefits Security
Administration.
(February 3,
2003)
DOL issues new
regulations governing overtime exemptions for white collar
workers.
(April 23, 2004) |
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