DOL’s FY 2024 Budget Prioritizes Expanding and Protecting Workers’ Rights

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) FY2024 budget requests $15.1 billion, up 3.4% from FY2023, to expand employment pathways and protect workers’ health and safety, wages, and retirement.

Of the funds, DOL has requested, $11.5 billion would go toward the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), an increase of 9.4% from FY 2023. The ETA administers Federal workforce development and worker dislocation programs, Federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. Funding supports initiatives that aim to expand and create good jobs and protections for American workers; these include:

• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and Employment Service State Grants
• Expanding the Registered Apprenticeship (RA) opportunities
• Launching the “Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness” program and
• Improving access and equity in the unemployment insurance system

Additionally, DOL’s budget calls for $2.3 billion, also up from previous years, to strengthen worker protection agencies. One of those agencies is the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), which enforces labor standards. The increased funding will allow WHD to enforce prevailing wage, minimum wage, and family leave requirements. Funding also increased for the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP), enabling them to enforce anti-discrimination laws and ensure Federal contracting.

The DOL budget can be found at https://www.dol.gov/general/budget