The labor commissioner is a state-level position in all 50 states. The duties of the position vary from state to state, but their general role is to oversee the administration of state laws relating to labor and the workforce. Duties can include ensuring that all workers are treated fairly under the law, overseeing investigation of non-payment of wages, the state minimum wage, overtime, and prevailing wage disputes. The vast majority of the states with labor commissioners authorize the governor to appoint an individual to the office, but there are at least four states who have opted to have voters select the officeholders.[1][2]
HIGHLIGHTS
Appointed by the governor in 46 states.
Elected in: Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon
Texas has a three-member board that serves this function instead of a single executive position.
In Nevada and West Virginia, two agencies share the responsibilities of labor management.
Salary range in 2023: $77,000 (Oregon) to $232,858 (California)
Although labor commissioners are selected by the governor in the majority of states, four (Oregon, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia) hold elections for the office. These elections are nonpartisan in Oregon. In the other 46 states, the labor commissioner is appointed by the governor. In Nevada and West Virginia, the responsibilities of the labor commissioner are divided between two separate appointed offices. In Texas, the governor appoints three labor commissioners to a board, which carries out the duties of the office.
The office of labor commissioner is nonpartisan in 47 states. The office is held by a Republican in each of the three states in which it is a partisan position.
According to compensation figures for 2023 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, the largest salary for a labor commissioner was $232,858 in California, while the lowest was $77,000 in Oregon. To view the compensation of a specific labor commissioner, hover your mouse cursor over the state.
Three states held regularly scheduled labor commissioner elections in the 2014 electoral cycle: Georgia, Oklahoma and Oregon. Oregon Commissioner of Labor and IndustriesBrad Avakian won re-election on May 20, 2014, while Georgia and Oklahoma held their labor commissioner general elections on November 4, 2014.
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