Wednesday, July 28, 2010

What Does The Georgia Labor Commissioner Do?

By Lenora Underwood

In Georgia, there is a statewide officer in charge of all of the rules, regulations, and laws related to employment, labor, learning to work more effectively, and serving employees with disabilities. The Georgia Labor Commissioner is the focal point for business executives, labor leaders and workers, and companies, providing information on the various ways that people find and keep jobs. Commissioners like this in most states aim to enhance the abilities of their workforce, so that their state's workers can compete in the global economy and increase their overall contribution.

4,000 people work for the Commissioner in all of Georgia's 159 counties. While the primary headquarters of the agency are in Atlanta, there are agency offices all over the state, including 45 so-called one-stop offices that provide educational and learning opportunities for workers. There are also 53 offices to help job seekers, and 50 offices that provide specialized services for disabled employees in rehabilitative programs.

The federal government also has a labor department. The Labor Commissioner interfaces with the federal agency, particularly serving as the point of contact for the US Wage and Hour Division and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Many Georgians seek out services related to unemployment benefits. The agency coordinates the delivery of funds to those who are out of work. It also provides information on training and services to help job seekers. This service area has been very busy during the Great Recession. The current unemployment rate in the State has hovered around 10 percent.

The agency provides in depth analysis and reporting on employment statistics through its Workforce Information and Analysis unit. The unit provides outlook documents on the long- and short-term prospects for growth in various industries, information on worker training and development, and other reports to help workforce-planning professionals.

Georgia addresses a number of occupational health and safe-work projects of interest to employees and their places of business. One of their projects is a volunteer cooperative made-up of educational institutions, civic institutions, and commercial institutions - together they provide voluntary services to companies aimed at creating safer workplaces. They also have a partnership affiliated with Georgia Tech University to provide safety consultancy services; and they make available significant amounts of rules related to chemicals, bungee jumping, amusement parks, and industrial HVAC.

In Georgia, the office is elected statewide. The candidates appear on the ballot with the gubernatorial, lieutenant gubernatorial, attorney general, and secretary of state candidates. Additionally, there are additional state executives who have oversight over priority areas of statewide concern, including the Insurance Commissioner and the Agriculture Commissioner. Democrat Michael Thurmond presently serves as the Georgia Labor Commissioner. His first time winning election to the office was 1998.

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