Strategic Goal 4: Strengthened Economic Protections

Protect and strengthen worker economic security through effective and efficient provision of unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation; ensuring union transparency; and securing pension and health benefits.

Other Information:

Resources: Three DOL agencies and one government corporation chaired by the Secretary of Labor help the Department to strengthen economic protections: the Employment and Training Administration; the Employee Benefits Security Administration; the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC); and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the Office of Labor- Management Standards (OLMS) within the Employment Standards Administration. To strengthen the Economic Protections of the nation’s workers, the Department requests $3.1 billion in discretionary budget authority in FY 2009. These programs include $2.6 billion for the unemployment insurance program, $110 million for operation of the workers’ compensation programs, $58 million to ensure union financial integrity, and $148 million for pension and health benefit security. Strategic Direction: Achieving a high level of economic protection for the workforce is vital to a strong and stable national economy. The Department of Labor is committed to strengthening economic protections through programs that administer payments of temporary benefits for the unemployed and that protect workers from the economic effects of work-related injuries and illness. The Department also safeguards union democracy and assures financial accountability for the millions of Americans who are union members. It also protects employee benefits plans against fraud and abuse. The Department of Labor administers and enforces Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), in both civil and criminal areas. ERISA established broad standards of responsibility for those who are charged with managing more than 700,000 covered retirement plans, approximately 2.5 million covered health plans, and similar numbers of other welfare benefit plans, such as those providing life or disability insurance. The employee benefit plans under DOL jurisdiction hold nearly $5 trillion in assets and cover approximately 150 million Americans. The Department fulfills its responsibilities in this area through enforcement, compliance assistance, technical assistance, outreach and education to covered Americans and plan sponsors. In addition, the Department, through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which was created by Title IV of ERISA, insures and administers the pension payments for defined benefit plans that have terminated. The Department also has a long history in administering workers’ compensation claims. Originating with the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), the Department has since added programs covering groups working in specific industries where there is a risk of injury or illness, such as longshoremen, harbor and maritime workers, coal miners and civilian employees on American military bases. Since the passage of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), the Department of Labor has become the principal agency responsible for processing claims from current and former employees, contractors, and subcontractors of the Department of Energy who became ill as a result of their work in the nation’s nuclear weapons complex. The Department continues to find new ways to improve customer service to workers and employers with initiatives in compliance assistance, performance measurement, and technological support for timely outcomes and enhanced customer service.

Objective(s):

DOL-09/08-4A: ETA Unemployment Insurance

DOL-09/08-4B: Workers’ Compensation

DOL-09/08-4C: Unions

DOL-09/08-4D: Employee Benefits

DOL-09/08-4E: Pension Insurance

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