Oklahoma Labor Commissioner
Labor Commissioner of Oklahoma | |
---|---|
Oklahoma Department of Labor | |
Type | Labor Commissioner |
Term length | 4 years |
Constituting instrument | Oklahoma Constitution |
Formation | 1907 |
First holder | Charles A. Daugherty |
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
The Oklahoma Commissioner of Labor is an elective executive officer of the State of Oklahoma. The Labor Commissioner serves as the head of the Oklahoma Department of Labor. The Labor Commissioner is responsible for supervising the administration of all state laws relating to labor and workplace safety and gathers and publishes information about the workforce of Oklahoma.
Until his death in August, 2015, the Labor Commissioner was Mark Costello, a Republican, who defeated the incumbent Lloyd Fields, a Democrat in the November 2010 election. In November 2015, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin appointed Melissa McLawhorn Houston to serve out the remainder of Costello’s term. Houston did not seek reelection to the position in the 2018 election, and was succeeded as Commissioner by Leslie Osborn.
History
The Oklahoma Department of Labor was created by the
Consequently, when the new state constitution was ratified by the delegates to the constitutional convention in 1907, the Oklahoma Department of Labor was created, with the Labor Commissioner as its head. The Labor Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of labor laws that promote fairness and equity in the workforce, including state wage laws, workers' compensation compliance, state OSHA laws for public employers, asbestos compliance, child labor laws and various other duties.
The office of the Labor Commissioner has been both appointive and elective at various times in Oklahoma's history.
Term of office
The Labor Commissioner serves as four-year term that runs concurrent with that of the Governor of Oklahoma.
Powers and responsibilities
The Oklahoma Constitution sets two responsibilities for the Labor Commissioner: (1) serve as the head of the Department of Labor and (2) serve as the chairman of the Board of Arbitration and Conciliation in the Department of Labor. As such, the vast majority of the Labor Commissioner's responsibilities are determined by acts of the Oklahoma Legislature.
As the head of the Labor Department, the Labor Commissioner is the
Office holders
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The following is an incomplete list of those individuals who have served as Labor Commissioner for Oklahoma:
Name | Party | Term |
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Charles L. Daugherty | Democratic | 1907–1911 |
W.G. Ashton | Democratic | 1915–1919 |
Claude Connally | Democratic | 1919–1927 |
W.A. Pat Murphy | Democratic | 1927–1947 |
Jim Hughes | Democratic | 1947–1963 |
W.T. Bill Hughes | Democratic | 1963–1967 |
L.E. Bailey | Republican | 1967–1971 |
Wilbur Wright | Democratic | 1971–1973 |
L.P. Williams | Democratic | 1973–1975 |
Wilbur Wright | Democratic | 1/13/1975 – 11/1/1975 |
William A. Foster | Democratic | 1975–1979 |
William R "Bill" Paulk | Democratic | 1979–1987 |
Dean Calhoon | Republican | 1987–1990 |
Ira Phillips | Republican | 1990–1991 |
Dave Renfro | Democratic | 1991–1995 |
Brenda Reneau | Republican | 1995–2007 |
Lloyd Fields | Democrat | 2007–2011 |
Mark Costello | Republican | 2011–2015 |
Melissa McLawhorn Houston | Republican | 2015–2019 |
Leslie Osborn | Republican | 2019–present |