Georgia'S Labor Commissioner
CurrentThe Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) was established in 1911. Known then as the Department of Commerce and Labor, it had broad authority over industrial and occupational safety and the administration of labor laws. The Wagner-Peyser Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1935, mandated a federal-state partnership for the 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 the control of an elected commissioner. The Georgia Department of Labor provides a wide range of services to job seekers and employers. These include the administration of Georgia's unemployment insurance, employment service, provision of workforce information to the public and private sectors, and oversight of child labor issues. 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. In 2012, the Georgia General Assembly enacted legislation transitioning Rehabilitation Services into the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, attached to the Georgia Department of Human Services, effective July 1, 2012.
