The Georgia Department of labor was established in 1911. Known the as the Department of Commerce and Labor, it had broad authority over industrial and occupational safety and administration of labor Laws. The Wagner-Pyser Act passed by the Congress in 1935, mandated a federal-state partnership for operation of employment service agencies. As a result, the Georgia General Assembly enacted the Employment Security Law of 1937, officially creating a Georgia Department of Labor. The agency was placed under control of an elected commissioner.

The Georgia Department of Labor provides a wide range of services to job seekers and employers. These include administration of Georgia's unemployment insurance, employment service, and vocational rehabilitation programs; provision of workforce information to the public and private sectors; inspection of boilers, pressure vessels, amusement park and carnival rides; and oversight of child labor issues.

The state's Division of Rehabilitation Services was merged with the department on July 1, 2001, by an act of the state legislature. Prior to the merger, Rehabilitation Services was under the administration of the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

The department's mission is to work with public and private partners in building a world-class workforce system that contributes to Georgia's economic prosperity. The agency accomplishes its mission by:

Helping individuals to attain their work goals and increase self-sufficiency through employment, training, rehabilitation and support services

Helping employers meet their labor needs through employee recruitment and selection services, workforce information, and technical support.

With a staff of 4,000 under the leadership of state labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, the GDOL consists of the following divisions and offices: Employment Services, Unemployment Insurance, Workforce Development, Rehabilitation Services, Safety Engineering, and Workforce Information and Analysis. Also, the Georgia Department of Labor has 53 Career Centers and 53 Vocational Rehabilitation Program offices located across the state.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond is the eighth person to hold the office. He took the oath of office no January 11, 1999.

Previous commissioners were Ben Huiet, 1938-67; Sam Caldwell, 1967-84; Joe Tanner, 1984-90; Ray Hollingsworth, 1990-91, Al Scott, 1991-92; David Poythress, 1992-98; and Marti Fullerton, 1998-99. The Department of Labor is charges with the following areas of responsibility:

To assist those who are seeking jobs in their quest for satisfactory and productive placement and to aid employers in the search for qualified workers.

To refer workers in need of additional skills to appropriate job training.

To administer the state's unemployment insurance program.

To administer rehabilitation services, including providing physical rehabilitation, job training, and job placement pf people with disabilities.

To gather, maintain, and report labor market information.

To administer laws relating to working conditions, employee safety, child labor, and to inspect amusement rides, elevators, dumbwaiters, manlifts, moving sidewalks, boilers, pressure vessels, safety glass, and high-voltage lines to assure that the public is protected.