The United States Department of Labor: establishment, powers, and constitutional authority

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).

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 that they deserve from their employers and other authorities in charge of them (Casil, 2005).

From these conflicts, the administrative capacity of the United States Department Labor has diminished. The logical force to represent the issues of the workers to the state is dependent on the necessity to be free and independent. With the existence of conflicts between the two levels, complications regarding the smoothness and convenience of the management of workers have emerged. Regarding the management of the economic well-being of the nation, data from the national labor department and that from the low-level departments can at times differ. When they differ, it is not easy to give a convincingly upright conclusion regarding the reported variables. The records that are needed by the state department of labor have to be accurate and reflective of the real situation in the country. It is important that the people who do the work of compiling data for the two levels of departments have to do a comparative analysis that will ensure that whatever is reported is reasonably true. Within the state operations, it is recognized that the people in charge need to play a major role in determining what need to be done to end the impasse (Arnesen, 2007).

The Fair Labor Relations Act of 1938 spells the manner in which the employers should act with respect to the employees. This is a challenge that is to do with the work relation within all the working departments in the country. However, this provision lacks the practicability to happen since most employers exist in amorphous groups that cannot be monitored well. The law does not also spell out how the private and informal employers should be treated in this regard. In most cases, the private employers are mostly the violators of the labor laws. The existence of the conflict in resolving the employer-employee standoff casts aspersions on the potency of the Labor department.

It is normal for the department to highlight the plight of the workers and take legal action where necessary to rectify the condition that might have resulted. The law on labor in the United States emphasizes the safety and respect of the employee while at work. This at times is not realized in the occurrence of conflicts between the major body and the smaller ones in state departments. This conflict can be diffused if the law is going to be amended to deprive the state departments of their little independence and make them operate under the overall umbrella, the United States Department Labor (Casil, 2005).

Effects of the Legal Decisions

The Labor Department is a constitutional organ within the U.S. government that is tasked with monitoring the welfare of the employees in the country. This department is also tasked with the responsibility of making sure that all the workers within the American government get a chance to be recognized as respected workers. This department is also responsible for advising the government on what it should do on matters of economic stabilization. This is made possible through the statistical data recorded about the nature of the workers. These records show the worker's statistical numbers, their occupational capability, and their ability to mingle with the rest of the workers (Arnesen, 2007).

From the statistical records, a country will easily tell how many of its workers are employed and what percentage it represents. This will inform the kind of the action that the government will take concerning stabilizing the economy. In respect of the workers' welfare, this department sets up the regulatory procedures and modes of operation in the workplace. These laws are made to secure a moderate environment for the workers by compelling the job creators to create safe workplaces (Goldman & Goldman, 2009).