The Maryland Department of Labor (called the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation until 2019[1]) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Maryland.[2] It is headquartered at 1100 North Eutaw Street in Baltimore.[3]
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.[4]
In 1902, the Assembly directed the Bureau to begin operating a free employment agency.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4]
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.[4] In 1983, labor functions were hived off into a new Department of Employment and Training[5]—which just four years later was downgraded to a division and swept into the Department of Economic and Employment Development.[4]
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.[4] In 1995, DLR absorbed the Division of Employment and Training and was renamed the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.[4]
In 2019, it was renamed the Department of Labor.[4]
Secretaries
Secretaries of the department, which has been known as Licensing and Regulation (L&R); Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (LLR), and Labor, include:[6]
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.[7]
The Division of Unemployment Insurance makes the initial decision on unemployment benefit claims. Appeals are handled in the Lower Appeals Division and the Board of Appeals, under the Office of the Deputy Secretary.
Benefits and Special Programs Section
Contributions
Policy and Planning Unit
Division of Workforce Development & Adult Learning
Workforce Development oversees the State’s workforce programs. Working with Local Workforce Investment Areas, services include matching job seekers and employers, providing training, and reporting on the needs and demands of the labor market.
Adult Education and Literacy Services, which also includes Correctional Education, offers adult instructional services and GED testing for people who are at least 16 years old and not enrolled in school. Programs are offered in all Maryland jurisdictions and provide classes for English-language learners and adults who want to improve their reading, writing, and math skills, or who want to earn a high school diploma through the GED tests or the Maryland National External Diploma Program (NEDP).
