The Maryland Department of Labor (called the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation until 2019) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is headquartered at 1100 North Eutaw Street in Baltimore.
History
Today's Department of Labor can trace its history to the labor rights movements of the late 19th century. In 1884, the Maryland state government created the Bureau of Statistics and Information to collect information on labor problems and abuses, which were reported annually to the General Assembly.
In 1902, the Assembly directed the Bureau to begin operating a free employment agency. In 1916, the Bureau was renamed the State Board of Labor and Statistics and given new duties: mediating labor disputes and enforcing laws governing hours of work and the employment of women and minors. Renamed the Department of Labor and Industry in 1945, it continued to gather statistics and run the employment agency, but its focus gradually shifted towards regulating labor conditions, including issuing work certificates to minors.
In 1970, a general reorganization of the state government's executive branch pulled labor-related functions—including the agency that had overseen Maryland's unemployment compensation since 1936—into a new Department of Employment and Social Services. In 1983, labor functions were hived off into a new Department of Employment and Training—which just four years later was downgraded to a division and swept into the Department of Economic and Employment Development.
The 1970 reorganization also produced the Department of Licensing and Regulation, the result of consolidating more than 30 state agencies and boards that licensed or regulated various businesses, professions, and trades. In 1995, DLR absorbed the Division of Employment and Training and was renamed the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
In 2019, it was renamed the Department of Labor.
Secretaries
Secretaries of the department, which has been known as Licensing and Regulation (L&R); Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (LLR), and Labor, include: Frederick L. Dewberry, Secretary of L&R, 1984–86 William A. Fogle, Jr., Secretary of L&R, 1987–94 Frank W. Stegman, Secretary of L&R, 1995 Eugene A. Conti, Jr., Secretary of LLR, 1995–98 John P. O'Connor, Secretary of LLR, 1999–2003 James D. Fielder, Jr., Secretary of LLR, 2003–07 Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of LLR, 2007–2009 Alexander M. Sanchez, Secretary of LLR, 2009–12 Scott R. Jensen, Interim Secretary of LLR, 2012 Leonard J. Howie III, Secretary of LLR, 2012–2015 Kelly M. Schulz, Secretary of LLR, 2015–2019 James Rzepkowski, Assistant Secretary of LLR, 2015–2019; Acting Secretary of LLR, Jan. 2019–June 2019; Acting Secretary of Labor, July 2019; Assistant Secretary of Labor, Aug. 2019–present. Tiffany P. Robinson, Secretary of Labor, 2019–2023. Portia Wu, Acting Secretary of Labor, 2023–present
Organization
The Maryland Department of Labor includes the following divisions:
Offices of the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary
Board of Appeals (2nd. level of appeal of unemployment insurance cases) Lower Appeals Division (first level of appeal in unemployment insurance cases) Administration Communications and Media Relations Counsel Fair Practices General Services Information Technology Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Policy Development Program Analysis & Audit Small Business Regulatory Assistance
Division of Labor and Industry
Employment Standards, Wage & Hour
Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) Prevailing Wage, Living Wage, Worker Classification Protection Safety Inspection Amusement ride inspection Boiler and pressure vessel safety inspection Elevator safety inspection Railroad safety and health Building Codes Administration