Guide to Federal Records

General Records of the Employment Standards Administration [ESA]


(Record Group 448)
1977-83

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 448.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 448.2 GENERAL RECORDS 1977-79 19 lin. ft.

448.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the Department of Labor, effective April 28, 1971, by Secretary's Order 13-71, May 4, 1971.

Predecessor Agencies:

In the Department of Labor:

  • Wage and Labor Standards Administration (WLSA, 1967-70)
  • Workplace Standards Administration (WSA, 1970-71)
Functions: Administers federal employment standards programs in areas of minimum wage and overtime, nondiscrimination and affirmative action, and workers' compensation. Supervises the activities of the Wage and Hour Division, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and Office of Workers' Compensation Programs. Prior to 1978, administered, through the Women's Bureau, programs directed at improving employment conditions of working women.

Related Records:

  • Record copies of publications of the Employment Standards Administration in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
  • Records of the Women's Bureau, RG 86.
  • Records of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. RG 100.
  • Records of the Wage and Hour Division, RG 155.
  • General Records of the Department of Labor, RG 174.
  • Records of the Office of Employment Security, RG 183.
  • Records of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, RG 403.

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448.2 GENERAL RECORDS
1977-79

History: Wage and Labor Standards Administration established in the Department of Labor by Secretary's Order 15-67, July 21, 1967, to direct and coordinate federal wage and labor standards programs administered by the Women's Bureau, Bureau of Labor Standards, Office of Federal Contract Compliance, Bureau of Employees' Compensation, and Employees' Compensation Appeals Board. Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions (WHPCD, a single consolidated unit) assigned to WLSA, effective July 1, 1969, by Secretary's Order 24-69, May 5, 1969.

Women's Bureau had been established in the Department of Labor by act of June 5, 1920 (41 Stat. 987), from predecessor Women-in- Industry Service (established 1918), to develop programs to benefit working women economically and improve working conditions. (For an administrative history of the Women's Bureau and its predecessor, SEE RG 86.)

Bureau of Labor Standards had been established by departmental order, November 1934, to promote industrial safety and health and to develop labor legislation.

Office of Federal Contract Compliance had been established in the immediate Office of the Secretary of Labor by EO 11246, September 24, 1965, to administer nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity programs directed at contractors and subcontractors doing business with the Federal Government and in federally assisted construction projects.

Bureau of Employees' Compensation had been established in the Federal Security Agency (FSA) by Reorganization Plan No. II of 1946, effective July 16, 1946, to administer workmen's compensation programs under Federal Employees' Compensation Act (39 Stat. 742), September 7, 1916, and Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (44 Stat. 1424), March 4, 1927. Transferred to the Department of Labor by Reorganization Plan No. 19 of 1950, effective May 24, 1950.

Employees' Compensation Appeals Board had been established in the Office of Special Services, FSA, by Reorganization Plan No. II of 1946, to handle appeals from Washington, DC, federal employees in cases arising under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act of 1916. Transferred to the Department of Labor by Reorganization Plan No. 19 of 1950.

Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Divisions had been established in the Department of Labor by Secretary's Order, October 15, 1942, consolidating the Public Contracts Division (established 1936) and the Wage and Hour Division (established 1938), to administer federal minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor laws. (For an administrative history of the WHPCD and its predecessors, SEE RG 155.)

WLSA redesignated Workplace Standards Administration by Secretary's Order 19-70, August 24, 1970, with constituent WHPCD concurrently redesignated Wage and Hour Division. WSA redesignated Employment Standards Administration, 1971. SEE 448.1.

Bureau of Labor Standards absorbed by the newly established Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), May 1, 1971. (For an administrative history of the Bureau of Labor Standards and OSHA, SEE RG 100.) Functions of the Bureau of Employees' Compensation and Employees' Compensation Appeals Board absorbed by ESA, March 13, 1972; reassigned to newly established Office of Workmen's Compensation Programs and Office of Federal Employees Compensation, 1973; and consolidated under Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, 1974. Office of Federal Contract Compliance redesignated Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 1977. Women's Bureau transferred to the immediate Office of the Secretary of Labor, effective January 1, 1978, by Secretary's Order 11-77, October 31, 1977.

Textual Records: Records of Donald Elisburg, Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards, 1977-79. Records relating to committee meetings, 1982-83.


Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


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