Georgia Department of Labor Revenue and Competitors

The Georgia Department of Labor was established in 1911. Known then as the Department of Commerce and Labor, it had broad authority over industrial and occupational safety and administration of labor laws. The Wagner-Peyser Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1935, mandated a federal-state partnership for operation of employment service agencies. As a result, the Georgia General Assembly enacted the Employment Security Law of 1937, officially creating a Georgia Department of Labor. The agency was placed under control of an elected commissioner. The Georgia Department of Labor provides a wide range of services to job seekers and employers. These include administration of Georgia's unemployment insurance, employment service, and vocational rehabilitation programs; provision of workforce information to the public and private sectors; inspection of boilers, pressure vessels, amusement park and carnival rides; and oversight of child labor issues. The Department of Labor is the state agency designated by the governor to lead the state's implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The state's Division of Rehabilitation Services was merged with the department on July 1, 2001, by an act of the state legislature. Prior to the merger, Rehabilitation Services was under the administration of the Georgia Department of Human Resources. Our mission is to work with public and private partners in building a world-class workforce system that contributes to Georgia's economic prosperity. We accomplish this by: Helping individuals attain their work goals and increase self-sufficiency through employment, training, comprehensive rehabilitation, and support services. Helping employers meet their business needs through employee recruitment and selection services, workforce information, and technical support. With a staff of over 4,000 under the leadership of State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, the GDOL consists of the following divisions and offices: Employment Services, Unemployment Insurance, Workforce Development, Rehabilitation Services, Safety Engineering, and Workforce Information and Analysis. Also, the Georgia Department of Labor has 53 local Career Centers and 53 Vocational Rehabilitation Program offices throughout the state. State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler is the ninth person to hold the office. He took the oath of office on January 10, 2011. Previous commissioners were Ben Huiet, 1938-67; Sam Caldwell, 1967-84; Joe Tanner, 1984-90; Ray Hollingsworth, 1990-91; Al Scott, 1991-92; David Poythress, 1992-98; Marti Fullerton, 1998-99; and Michael L. Thurmond, 1999-2011. The Department of Labor is charged with the following areas of responsibility: To assist those who are seeking jobs in their quest for satisfactory and productive placement and to aid employers in the search for qualified workers. To refer workers in need of additional skills into the proper job training program. To administer the state's unemployment insurance program. To administer rehabilitation services, including providing physical rehabilitation, job training, and job placement of people with disabilities. To gather, maintain, and report labor market information. To administer laws relating to working conditions, employee safety, and child labor, and to inspect amusement rides, elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters, manlifts, moving sidewalks, boilers, pressure vessels, safety glass, and high-voltage lines to assure that the public is protected.