Part of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) mission is to ensure safe and healthful working conditions that protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards.

The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) collaborates with DOL's agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Wage and Hour Division (WHD), to conduct evaluations and data analyses of programs and policies that regulate, increase knowledge of, and oversee the compliance and enforcement of regulations on earnings and wages. These studies build the evidence base on ensuring fair earnings and wages, including federal minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping.

Explore CEO's current studies, completed reports, and public use data on employer compliance and enforcement.

Completed Reports

OFCCP Compliance Officer Training Study
(Report, August 2023)

Can we Use Local Outreach to Improve Equity in Federal Oversight? A Case Study with the H-2A Visa Program
(February 2022)

This study was done as part of CEO’s Summer Data Challenge on Equity and Underserved Communities, and was produced outside of CEO’s standard research development process.

Employer Adoption of Voluntary Health and Safety Standards
(Knowledge Development Report, December 2021)

Administrative Data Research and Analysis Project (ADRA): Comparisons of Data Sources on Earnings 
(December 2018)

OFCCP Community-Based Organization Outreach Evaluation
(Final Report, June 2017)

Using Behavioral Interventions to Help Employers Resolve OSHA Citations
(Final Report, May 2017)

 

Worker Classification Knowledge Survey Volume I
(Technical Report, November 2016)

 

Evaluation of the OSHA On-site Consultation Program (OSC): The Effect of High-Rate Letters on OSC Requests
(Final Report, April 2015)

The Social and Economic Effects of Wage Violations: Estimates for California and New York
(Final Report, December 2014)

A Paper Series Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act
(Final Report, June 2014)

A Paper Series Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of American Women: Report of the President's Commission on the Status of Women
(Final Report, June 2014)

Workers' Rights — Access, Assertion, and Knowledge Study
(Final Report, November 2013)

 

Proposed Evaluation Design for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs: An approach for evaluating the cooperative relationship between OFCCP and community-based organizations
(Design Report, September 2013)

Using Administrative Data to Address Federal Contractor Violations of Equal Employment Opportunity Laws
(Final Report, July 2013)

 

Evaluating the Impact of OSHA's Enforcement Interventions
(Design Report, October 2010)

Public Use Data

Worker Classification Knowledge Survey

Addressing Return-to-Work Issues in the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) with Administrative Data

Workers' Rights - Access, Assertion, and Knowledge. Survey of Public Opinion of the U.S. Working Population on Worker Rights

Find more research in DOL's Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR).

 

Labor Research Scholars and Grants

DOL and CEO fund grants and awards to support academic research that build evidence on labor issues important to the department. Read more about each research program and explore the final reports and datasets.

 

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.