Note: [Download the Tables as Extensible Markup Language (XML) file format.]

          [Download the Tables as Excel Microsoft Office Format Spreadsheet (XLSX) file format.]

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023
October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Department of Labor (DOL) has a decentralized Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program in which each component agency responds directly to FOIA requests implicating its programs and activities. This allows for more accurate, complete, and timely responses to the public. This annual FOIA report reflects FOIA activities at the Departmental level, and also distinguishes the volume and timeliness of each DOL component as it carries out its respective responsibilities under the FOIA.

Although FOIA processes at DOL are decentralized, departmental oversight is provided by the Office of Information Services (OIS), which operates under the supervision of the Solicitor of Labor, the Department's Chief FOIA Officer. OIS provides agency-wide leadership and guidance to ensure compliance with FOIA, particularly to increase the quality and timeliness of FOIA responses; reduce the backlog of pending FOIA requests; and review the effectiveness of each agency's FOIA processes to benchmark best practices and make recommendations for programmatic improvements.

During FY 2023, the Department received a total of 14,282 initial requests and processed 14,219 requests. Additional information about the Department's FOIA program is available online at https://www.dol.gov/general/foia.

I. Basic Information Regarding Report.

1. For questions concerning this report, please contact Ramona Branch Oliver, Director, Office of Information Services (OIS), Office of the Solicitor, Room N-2420, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210, telephone number (202) 693-5391, fax number (202) 693-5389.

2. The electronic address for this report is http://www.dol.gov/dol/foia/main.htm.

3. You may obtain a paper copy of this report by visiting the DOL website or by contacting OIS using the information above.

II. How to Make a FOIA Request.

The Department is organized into divisions and agencies often referred to as components. Each component processes its own FOIA requests. Therefore, a request will receive the fastest possible response if it is addressed directly to the disclosure officer for the component that a requester believes has the records.  A FOIA request must be submitted in writing and may be submitted via mail, fax, email or submitted electronically using the mechanisms referenced below. 

The DOL "Guide to Submitting a Request Under FOIA" provides general information about the FOIA program at DOL as well as basic information on how to submit a FOIA request. The Guide also contains links to the DOL agency components in both the national and regional offices, a brief description of expected response times, and reasons why some requests cannot be granted by DOL. This Guide is available on DOL's website at http://www.dol.gov/dol/foia/guide6.htm.

Requesters who cannot determine the proper disclosure officer to whom a request should be addressed may direct the request to the Office of Information Services (OIS), Office of the Solicitor, Division of Management and Administrative Legal Services, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-2420, Washington, D.C. 20210, by e-mail to foiarequests@dol.gov or by fax to (202) 693-5389. Requesters may also submit FOIA requests by creating a profile in the Department's Public Access Portal or through the National FOIA Portal at www.foia.gov.

1. The following list contains the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the individual agency components in the national and regional offices of the Department. The disclosure officer for each component is responsible for making records in the custody of that component available for inspection and copying, in accordance with the provisions of the FOIA. Unless otherwise specified, the mailing address for the following national office components is as follows:

U.S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20210

1. Office of the Secretary (OSEC), (202) 693-7277.
2. Office of the Solicitor (SOL), (202) 693-5391.
3. Office of Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), (202) 693-7440.
4. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM), (202) 693-7277.
5. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy (OASP), (202) 693-5925.
6. Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), (202) 693-6806.
7. Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (OCIA), (202) 693-4630.
8. Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), (202) 693-4930.
9. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), (202) 693-1145.
10. Office of Inspector General (OIG), (202) 693-5113.
11. Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS), (202) 693-0123.
12. Office of Public Affairs (OPA), (202) 693-4654.
13. Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), (202) 693-0934.
14. Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), (202) 693-4770.
15. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), (202) 691-7628.
16. Employment and Training Administration (ETA), (202) 693-3140.
17. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), (202) 693-9440.
18. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), (202) 693-1897.
19. Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), (202) 693-8655.
20. Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), (202) 693-4745.
21. Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), (202) 693-5028.
22. Administrative Review Board (ARB), (202) 693-5028.
23. Benefits Review Board (BRB), (202) 693-5028.
24. Wage and Hour Division (WHD), (202) 693-0388.
25. Women's Bureau (WB), (202) 693-6735.

2. Why some requests are not granted.

A FOIA request can be made for any agency record. This does not mean, however, that the Department will disclose every record sought. There are statutory exemptions that authorize the withholding of certain information. In addition, the agency cannot comply with a FOIA request if there are no responsive records. Further, FOIA does not require agencies to do research for the requester, to analyze data, to answer questions, or to create records in order to respond to a FOIA request.

3. The department of labor's FOIA regulations can be found online at: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-A/part-70.

III.  Definitions. Exemptions and Acronyms

1.  Definition of Terms Used in This Report.

1. Administrative Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by the agency at the initial request level.
2. Average Number – the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.
3. Backlog – the number of requests or administrative appeals that are pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time period for a response.
4. Component – for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a "component" is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their Annual FOIA Report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.
5. Consultation - the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because that other agency has an interest in the document. Once the agency in receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it responds back to the agency that forwarded.
6. Exemption 3 Statute - a federal statute that exempts information from disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under subsection (b)(3) of the FOIA.
7. FOIA Request - a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal agency for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a third-party request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of interest. FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters seeking records concerning themselves (i.e., first-party requests) when those requesters are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as non-U.S. citizens. Moreover, because all first-party requesters should be afforded the benefit of both the access provisions of the FOIA as well as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA requests also include any first-party requests where an agency determines that it must search beyond its Privacy Act systems of records or where a Privacy Act exemption applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford the greatest possible access. All requests that require the agency to utilize the FOIA in responding to the requester are included in this Report. Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency for processing and direct response to the requester. It does not, however, include records for which the agency has received a consultation from another agency. (Consultations are reported separately in Section XII of this Report.)
8. Full Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
9. Full Denial - an agency decision not to release any records in response to a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their entireties under one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a procedural reason, such as when no records could be located.
10. Median Number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
11. Multi-Track Processing - a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track. Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis.
    1. Expedited Processing - an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester satisfies the requirements for expedited processing as set forth in the statute and in agency regulations.
    2. Simple Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.
    3. Complex Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi- track processing places in a slower track based on the high volume and/or complexity of the records requested.
12. Partial Grant/Partial Denial - in response to a FOIA request, an agency decision to disclose portions of the records and to withhold other portions that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a portion of the request for a procedural reason.
13. Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal - a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects.
14. Perfected Request - a request for records which reasonably describes such records and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.
15. Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal - a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final action in all respects.
16. Range in Number of Days - the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals.
17. Time Limits - the time period in the statute for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty working days from receipt of a perfected FOIA request).

2. Nine FOIA Exemptions.

1. Exemption 1: classified national defense and foreign relations information.
2. Exemption 2: internal agency rules and practices.
3. Exemption 3: information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law.
4. Exemption 4: trade secrets and other confidential business information.
5. Exemption 5: inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges.
6. Exemption 6: information involving matters of personal privacy.
7. Exemption 7: records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.
8. Exemption 8: information relating to the supervision of financial institutions.
9. Exemption 9: geological information on wells.

3. Agency Component Abbreviations

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

V.A. FOIA REQUESTS -- RECEIVED, PROCESSED AND PENDING FOIA REQUESTS

After reviewing its database, DOL updated the number of requests pending at the start of the Fiscal Year for the following components: Adj Bds, OSEC, OSHA, SOL, OIG.

V.B.(1). DISPOSITION OF FOIA REQUESTS -- ALL PROCESSED REQUESTS

V.B.(2). DISPOSITION OF FOIA REQUESTS -- "OTHER" REASONS FOR "FULL DENIALS BASED ON REASONS OTHER THAN EXEMPTIONS"

V.B.(3). DISPOSITION OF FOIA REQUESTS -- NUMBER OF TIMES EXEMPTIONS APPLIED

VI.A. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OF INITIAL DETERMINATIONS OF FOIA REQUESTS -- RECEIVED, PROCESSED, AND PENDING ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS

After reviewing its database, DOL updated the number of appeals pending at the start of the Fiscal Year for the following components: OIG, SOL.

VI.B. DISPOSITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS -- ALL PROCESSED APPEALS

VI.C.(1). REASONS FOR DENIAL ON APPEAL -- NUMBER OF TIMES EXEMPTIONS APPLIED

VI.C.(2). REASONS FOR DENIAL ON APPEAL -- REASONS OTHER THAN EXEMPTIONS

VI.C.(3). REASONS FOR DENIAL ON APPEAL -- "OTHER" REASONS

VI.C.(4). RESPONSE TIME FOR ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS

VI.C.(5). TEN OLDEST PENDING ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS

VII.A. FOIA REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME FOR ALL PROCESSED PERFECTED REQUESTS

VII.B. PROCESSED REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME FOR PERFECTED REQUESTS IN WHICH INFORMATION WAS GRANTED

VII.C. PROCESSED SIMPLE REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME IN DAY INCREMENTS

VII.C. PROCESSED COMPLEX REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME IN DAY INCREMENTS

VII.C. PROCESSED REQUESTS GRANTED EXPEDITED PROCESSING -- RESPONSE TIME IN DAY INCREMENTS

VII.D. PENDING REQUESTS -- ALL PENDING PERFECTED REQUESTS

VII.E. PENDING REQUESTS -- TEN OLDEST PENDING PERFECTED REQUESTS

VIII.A. REQUESTS FOR EXPEDITED PROCESSING

VIII.B. Requests for Fee Waiver

IX. FOIA Personnel and Costs

X. Fees Collected for Processing Requests

XI.A. Number of Times Subsection (C) Used

XI.B. Number of Subsection (A)(2) Postings

XII.A. Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals

XII.B. CONSULTATIONS ON FOIA REQUESTS -- RECEIVED, PROCESSED, AND PENDING CONSULTATIONS

XII.C. CONSULTATIONS ON FOIA REQUESTS -- TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS RECEIVED FROM OTHER AGENCIES AND PENDING AT THE AGENCY