Understanding the History and the Roles of the Labor Department Essay

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United States Department of Labor

Department of Labor is a Cabinet branch of government. Its role is to secure occupational safety, wage considerations, and other working conditions of the American workers. The department sets out plans for how the workers and other wage earners in the country are treated. The body was first formed in the year 1884. It was given the mandate and power to manage the workforce by the Congress. It was during a special meeting of the U.S. Congress that the decision to come up with this body was passed. Once started, the body began collecting economic data two years later and has since been using the data to produce economic policies regarding the welfare of the workers in America. The other issues that this body deals with include making up the rules to be played by the workers in a country. Every state has a department of labor concerned with the welfare of the employees. The state departments are interested in making up the policy formulations about labor (Arnesen, 2007).

How the agency got power

The department got its constitutional power in the year 1903 after the House of Representatives passed a majority resolution to enact it into the Supreme Constitution of the United States. A more than two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives backed the resolution. After this, the agency became an independent constitutional body. With this, it can exercise its constitutional mandates without the interference of other government bodies. In this case, body exercises the mandate to set up its by-laws that are applicable to the workers of the American people. The agency is thus entitled to funding from the national treasury courtesy of its constitutional independence. The constitution also gives this body the right to foresee the implementation of the labor laws (Casil, 2005).

The Congressional approval gave the body a legislative power. The entire congressional approval gave the body an absolute authority over all matters regarding workers. In the U.S. arms of government, the Congress is a highly powered decision-making organ that makes most of the major decisions that the government is to undertake. The approval and sanctioning authority that the Congress gave the union emboldened it to pursue a number of mandatory regulations that have seen the union become one of the most influential departments in the United States of America. In this sense, the people of America have shown much reverence of this union. Its legislative authority is not in question given the fact that Congress regulates most of the major activities of the U.S. government. By extension, the labor department has derived the executive powers reflective of the mandate given by the Congress. When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was created, the labor department was conjoined to form one bureau dealing with both the issues of trade and labor movements. Labor laws in the country have been seen to bring in the agenda of fairness and good practices within the country. They are all synchronized to fit into the expectations and requirements of the state laws (Arnesen, Greene, & Laurie, 1998).

The Powers of the United States Department Labor

The powers of United States Department Labor are enshrined in the constitution of the United States of America. It is mandated to make laws that spell out the mode of operations in the labor department in America. Some of the activities include safeguarding the wages and salaries of the employees, ensuring a safe working environment, and setting laws to be followed by the workers in the country. The body also deals with making sure that the employers honor all the labor laws when treating the employees. While partnering with the State Bureau of Statistics, the Department assists in the management and forecasting of the economic status of the country. This begins with the collection of population data of all the workers in the country. The data that is also collected involves the qualifications and ages of the employees. This will assist the government in making decisions regarding the status of the economy (Arnesen, 2007).

The government economists need these data for making decisions that will keep the status of the economy in the desirable status. Economic forecasts are also in need of the data regarding the employees in the sense that employees determine the productivity of the country and the specific departments in the country. Individual effort from the employees can be aggregated to arrive at the country's overall productivity and economic health. The nature of this effort underscores the importance it has on the status of the economy.

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The economic status of a country is seen from the way it can sustain its citizens by providing all the basic and social amenities. This is made possible by the availability of all the data regarding the workers in the country (Casil, 2005).

The department also has powers to recommend and approve all the by-laws that the individual firms and companies set up. Once managements of the individual companies have come up with the regulatory mechanisms regarding their by-laws, they forward them for approval by the United States Department Labor. This administrative role gives the management a chance to administer the work of the all the entities in the industry. This is what helps the industry operate with smoothness and orderliness.

The legislations that are done by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives regarding the operations of the department have given the body a strong and influential concerning the management of workers. In every case, managing the workforce using laws becomes possible. The legislative agenda in this cause has been noted to boost the level of confidence and authority of the labor department. All the state departments of the labor department have been seen to be effective and after the laws in their favor were enacted by the two legislative houses (Arnesen, Greene, & Laurie, 1998).

Research on case law - Bayou Lawn and Landscaping Services v. Secretary of Labor

A research on the case laws shows the many instances where the courts have had to intervene on matters to do with the labor environment in the country.

Bayou Lawn and Landscaping Services v. Secretary of Labor

This was a case battle pitting the agricultural entity, Bayou Lawn and landscape services, and the state over the former's decision to seek to grant visas to professional immigrants. The organization had wished to grant visas to its imported labor force. This way, there had been little talk about the possibility of the organizations seeking to legitimize the presence of their foreign employees in America. Their argument was that those who offered to work in the company had a right to be granted visas since their presence was valuable to the nation at large (2007).

The courts had initially ruled that the Department of Labor lacked the right to issue a direction regarding the welfare of the foreign employees. It is also noted that the courts had previously denied the labor department the right to go about the legal process of seeking stay orders for immigrant workers who had come to America illegally. This was a ruling done in response to the petition presented by the Bayou lawn and landscape services. Their challenge was that their involvement in the case was curtailed by the National government's influence over the federal governments. The legality of the department is thus challenged in spirit by the clamor for federalism. The spirit of federalism is to have the states free to conduct their activities in such a manner that they can act without the patronage of the national government.

In the appeal, the courts granted the Department of Labor a chance to make laws regarding the matters of the foreign employees. The courts further ordered that such powers be exercised in consultation with the other relevant state departments. It is always expected that the federal government is subordinate to the national government. This way, people have a chance to encounter various services from the two levels of governance. The national government can push for the rights of the workers while the federal governments intervene in the specific issues pertaining to the workplace conditions (Arnesen, Greene, & Laurie, 1998).

However, conflicts normally arise on which body among the two should act in a given manner. Other issues pertaining to the conflict stem from the fact that the law guides the practices of each entity and specifies the separation of powers between the two. The law grants the national authority then powers to administer the other smaller ones in the federal departments. The federal departments are tasked with the responsibility of managing the actions of the managers of the groups within their jurisdiction Goldman & Goldman, 2009). This ensures that the workers who have been granted the mandate to operate specific roles have the chance to be treated as legitimate workers. United States Department of Labor has been monitoring the general situation in the work environment. This ensures that the workers get their fair share of the commitment….....

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