U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of International 

Labor Affairs

November 2020
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TAB 1: AGENCY ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW ........................................................ 1

TAB 2: STATE OF PLAY ...................................................................................................... 5

TAB 3: CALENDAR ............................................................................................................ 15

TAB 4: BUDGET.................................................................................................................. 16

TAB 5: AGENCY PERFORMANCE................................................................................... 19
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

1

TAB 1: AGENCY ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

Mission

ILAB's mission1 is to promote a fair global playing field for workers in the United States and 

around the world by enforcing trade commitments, strengthening labor standards, and combating 

international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking. 

Authorizing Legislation

ILAB's work supports the President’s and the Secretary of Labor’s labor and foreign policy 

objectives and meets congressional mandates.

2

Organizational Structure

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) is headed by the Office of the Deputy 

Undersecretary (ODUS), which provides leadership, direction, and guidance to the Bureau in 

support of its mission. Additionally, ILAB has three functional offices: The Office of Child 

Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT); the Office of International Relations and 

Economic Research (OIRER); and the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA). ILAB has 

approximately 120 FTEs (Full Time Equivalent). The position of ILAB’s agency head, the 

Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs, is currently vacant. 

 1 https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/about-us/mission. 2 https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/about/laws.
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

2

Organizational Chart 

Associate Deputy 

Undersecretary

Mark Mittelhauser

(Career SES)

Senior Counselor

Daniel Costello

(Non-Career GS)

Deputy Undersecretary

Vacant

(PA)

Associate Deputy 

Undersecretary

Vacant

(Non-Career SES)

Chief of Staff

Grant Lebens

(Non-Career GS)

Office of Trade and Labor 

Affairs

Matthew Levin, Director

(Career SES)

Kevin Willcuts

Deputy Director

(Career GS)

Margaret Jungk

Deputy Director

(Career GS)

Ken Swinnerton

Deputy Director

(Career GS)

Zhao Li

Deputy Director

(Career GS)

Donna Chung

Deputy Director

(Career GS)

Vacant

Deputy Director

(Career GS)

Policy Advisor

Quinn Marschik

(Non-Career GS)

Office of Child Labor, 

Forced Labor, and Human 

Trafficking

Marcia Eugenio, Director

(Career SES)

Office of International 

Relations and Economic 

Research

Robert Shepard, Director

(Career GS)
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

3 

Workforce At-A-Glance

Organizational Changes During the Past Four Years

In 2020, ILAB reorganized the Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA) to meet the 

Congressional directive to monitor and enforce U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) and trade 

preference programs. In addition, OTLA focused on building new capacities to monitor 

compliance with the newly signed U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Trade Agreement, and to 

provide targeted technical assistance to Mexico to support the implementation of the USMCA. 

The reorganization included expanding the number of divisions within OTLA from four to 

seven. In order to fulfill its expanded mandate, OTLA is set to increase staffing levels in FY 

2021. 

ILAB continues to expand its labor attaché program. Through this program, ILAB employees 
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

4

are posted in U.S. embassies in countries where ILAB has a strategic interest. Labor attachés 

work on labor and employment issues, including enforcement of the labor commitments of U.S. 

trade agreements and preference programs. There is currently a DOL labor attaché serving in 

Colombia. ILAB has also established a position in Vietnam, which is not currently filled. ILAB 

does not have immediate plans to fill this position but is discussing how best to staff the attaché 

function to address priorities in Southeast Asia. In 2020, ILAB expanded the program to include 

two attaches in Mexico to implement the labor provision of the USMCA, with plans to fill up to 

three additional attaché positions during FY 2021, in compliance with USMCA implementing 

legislation. Additionally, ILAB has created a position and is moving forward to fill an attaché 

position to cover the International Labor Organization (ILO) at the U.S. Mission in Geneva.

In 2019, the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) implemented 

a minor realignment of the office’s structure. The realignment created separate units for research 

and policy and technical assistance and cooperation, and established a separate division for 

monitoring, evaluation, research and learning. This realignment improved the office’s operations 

and relocated monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities to report to the OCFT office director.

In 2018, ILAB merged the Office of Economic and Labor Research (OELR) and the Office of 

International Relations (OIR) to establish the Office of International Relations and Economic 

Research (OIRER). The realignment minimized overhead costs of maintaining two small offices 

and formalized the long-standing collaboration of the two offices in the use of economic research 

to inform policy positions and deliberations in the various multilateral and bilateral relationships 

that ILAB maintains.

Key Leaders

• Vacant, Deputy Undersecretary

• Mark Mittelhauser, Associate Deputy Undersecretary

• Vacant, Associate Deputy Undersecretary

• Grant Lebens, Chief of Staff

• Marcia Eugenio, Director, Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking

• Robert Shepard, Director, Office of International Relations and Economic Research

• Matthew Levin, Director, Office of Trade and Labor Affairs
TAB 2: State of Play

5

TAB 2: STATE OF PLAY 

Key Meetings, Decisions and Announcements

By end of November 2020

G20 Labor and Employment Ministerial Meeting (LEMM)

The G20 Labor Ministers met virtually on September 10 to discuss Better Preparing Youth for 

the Transitions to Work; Adapting Social Protection to Reflect the Changing Patterns of Work; 

Exploring Behavioral Insights Application for Robust Labor Market Policies; and Reducing 

Work-Related Gender Disparities. Saudi Arabia, which holds the Presidency of the G20 this 

year, hosted the meeting. The LEMM was preceded by a meeting of the G20 Employment 

Working Group (EWG) met on September 7-8 to finalize the Ministerial Declaration and 

Annexes.

Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Annual Review

The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will make final decisions for the GSP Annual 

Review, which will include whether to close any GSP country practice reviews and whether to 

open any new country practice reviews based on the annual assessment of GSP beneficiary 

countries. OTLA/ILAB represents DOL in the interagency process and provides 

recommendations and expertise on GSP beneficiary countries’ compliance with the labor 

eligibility criteria.

African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Annual Review

The TPSC will conduct the annual AGOA review of beneficiary countries’ compliance with the 

labor eligibility criteria and determine next steps with respect to engagement. OTLA/ILAB 

represents DOL in the interagency process and provides recommendations and expertise on 

AGOA beneficiary country compliance with the labor eligibility criteria. DOL will also take a 

lead role in preparing strategic work plans, which presents a new opportunity to raise labor issues 

in a more coordinated and sustained manner throughout the coming year.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Employment, Labor 

and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC)

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ELSAC will not meet for its usual in-person two fullday meeting, but instead will meet in a series of one-to-two-hour virtual sessions to be scheduled 

starting in mid-September and going throughout the fall. At these sessions, the ELSAC will 

work on planning for the 2021 Meeting of OECD Labor and Employment Ministers, take a few 

remaining decisions about its planned 2021-22 Program of Work and Budget, and review 

products from the 2019-20 Program of Work on skills, employment, migration, and/or social 

policy issues.

ILO Governing Body

The ILO Governing Body will meet October 29–November 12 to consider cases of country 

violations of worker rights, employment- and labor-related policy issues, and key program and 

budget issues. The meeting will be held virtually, and while the agenda is being negotiated, it 

will include items on the 2022-2025 Program and Budget, and reviews of cases involving 
TAB 2: State of Play

6

noncompliance with international labor standards by Venezuela, Guatemala, Qatar, Bangladesh, 

and Burma.

Universal Periodic Review of the United States Human Rights Record (UPR) 

The third UPR of the United States will take place in Geneva in November. The State

Department of State coordinates United States Government (USG) participation and leads USG 

representation in the process. ILAB participates in the interagency preparatory process, 

providing needed expertise on labor issues.

By end of December 2020

CAFTA-DR Report Publication

The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) 

Implementation Act (the Act) requires the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the U.S. 

Trade Representative (USTR), to report biennially to Congress on labor capacity-building efforts 

by the CAFTA-DR parties. This will be the Department’s fourth CAFTA-DR report. These 

reports examine public submissions reviewed by the Department under article 16.4.3 of the 

CAFTA-DR (submissions are formal complaints from interested organizations that believe a 

trading partner is not fulfilling its labor commitments). While no new submissions were 

accepted during this review period, this report will provide updates on the engagements related 

to previously-reviewed submissions concerning the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and 

Honduras. The report will also contain a summary of engagements following the first-ever 

dispute settlement case on labor rights under a trade agreement against Guatemala; ongoing 

engagements with the Government of the Dominican Republic, including through the provision 

of technical assistance; and engagements with the Government of Honduras in the 

implementation of a historic and comprehensive monitoring and action plan on labor rights 

agreed to between the United States and Honduras in December 2015. The report will also 

examine the progress of the countries in addressing other important labor rights concerns and 

commitments. ILAB expects to publish the report in late 2020.

By end of January 2020 

ILAB anticipates publishing the following Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) in early 

2021:

• Improved adherence to Mexican labor law and international labor standards by the 

agriculture sector in Mexico

• Mexico Conciliation Project

These FOAs are the used to request proposals from qualified organizations to apply for ILABfunded technical assistance projects. The winning applicants are awarded grants from ILAB that 

typically run for four years or more.

Policy and Regulatory Issues 

In support of the Department’s goal of promoting quality job creation in the United States, the 

Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) will prioritize activities that lift labor standards 

and foster decent working conditions around the world as part of a strategy for promoting a fair 
TAB 2: State of Play

7

and level playing field for U.S. workers and companies. Priority program areas include the 

following: 

• implementing effective and coordinated technical assistance to combat child labor and 

forced labor, strengthening worker rights, and improving livelihoods;

• building the capacity of governments, workers, and businesses to enforce and improve 

labor protections;

• developing and effectively enforcing strong labor rights provisions in U.S. free trade 

agreements and preference programs;

• effectively representing U.S. labor and employment positions in multilateral forums and 

in bilateral relationships;

• producing incisive and comprehensive information on child labor, forced labor, and 

worker rights in the global economy;

• assessing the effects of trade and other international economic policies on U.S. labor 

markets and workers;

• strengthening international cooperation and exchange on the development of industry 

recognized apprenticeship programs in the United States; and

• pursuing strong labor diplomacy and multilateral engagement on employment and social 

protection issues.

ILAB increasingly combines programmatic, policy, and reporting interventions to increase 

impact in priority countries, such as Mexico, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Vietnam, Ghana, Qatar, 

and Venezuela. ILAB works with the State Department and the United States Trade 

Representative (USTR) to improve USG engagement on labor issues and increases our 

engagement and monitoring capacity at the country and regional levels through the labor attaché 

program.

ILAB utilizes four cross-cutting strategies (trade enforcement, policy engagement, technical 

assistance, and research and reporting) across its three program offices in support of its mission, 

as further discussed below.

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)

OCFT conducts a range of activities to support ILAB’s mission, and OCFT’s research and 

reporting serves as a basis for informing ILAB’s policy engagement, monitoring, enforcement,

and technical cooperation strategies. As part of its research and reporting function, OCFT 

prioritizes the following:

• In-country staff research and policy engagement in countries where there is a lack of 

information and government commitment to address child labor, forced labor, and human 

trafficking. The information collected aims to increase the accuracy and reliability of 

information reported in OCFT’s flagship reports, and supports policy engagement efforts 

to assist governments in addressing suggested actions identified through its reporting, 

including enhanced enforcement of national labor laws;
TAB 2: State of Play

8

• Work with countries to address the conditions that lead to inclusion of goods in OCFT’s 

Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) list of goods made with 

child labor or forced labor and provide them a systematic framework for collecting 

information and developing systems to demonstrate how to remove a good from OCFT’s 

list; and

• Increasing coordination with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to support 

implementation of the changes outlined in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement 

Act of 2015, including through participation in CBP’s Customs Commercial Operations 

Advisory Committee (COAC) Forced Labor Working Group and the Forced Labor 

Interagency Working Group. Following passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada

(USMCA) Implementation Act, OCFT also participates in the mandated Forced Labor 

Enforcement Task Force.

With respect to its policy engagement, OCFT performs the following:

• Hosts or participates in events on or around June 12 each year to commemorate the World Day 

Against Child Labor;

• Expands its use of social media as a means of raising awareness about the work it does and the 

issues it seeks to address;

• Issues the Iqbal Masih Award, a non-monetary award presented annually by the Secretary 

and administered by OCFT, to recognize exceptional efforts to reduce the worst forms of 

child labor;

• Uses the tools, knowledge, and results from its technical assistance and research and 

reporting activities to build momentum and foster stakeholder engagement to support 

USG efforts to eradicate forced labor, trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor

internationally;

• Engages with international stakeholders to address child labor and forced labor issues in 

discussions relating to compliance with trade commitments; and

• Furthers its strategic bilateral policy engagements with key governments, including 

Mexico, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Honduras, Panama, Peru, 

Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Issues and sectors of particular strategic focus for OCFT include the following: 

• Fishing and Seafood – strengthen coordination and collaboration with USG counterparts, 

as well as with non-USG stakeholders, to further international efforts to combat forced 

labor in the fish and seafood sectors.

• Cocoa – along with the International Cocoa and Chocolate Industry and the Governments 

of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, work toward the goal of reducing the worst forms of child 

labor in the cocoa sectors of these two countries by 70 percent in aggregate by the year 

2020;

• Agriculture – in addition to our work in cocoa, work with governments, industry, and 

civil society to address and prevent child labor and forced labor in agriculture. In 

particular, use the TVPRA and Executive Order (E.O.) Lists as well as the ComplyChain 

app to assist stakeholders in addressing these issues. 
TAB 2: State of Play

9

• Girls and Women’s Empowerment – initiatives that aim to help adolescent girls around 

the world attain a quality education that can empower them to reach their full potential;

• Occupational Safety and Health – provide leadership in supporting global and national 

efforts to improve occupational safety and health, particularly as it relates to child labor 

and young workers.

• Training for Vulnerable Youth – in Central America, participate in interagency policy 

fora to support the U.S. Strategy for Central America, which includes a focus on youth 

employment and apprenticeships for the most vulnerable groups, including those from 

indigenous and afro-descendant populations.

OCFT devotes significant resources to managing its substantial existing grant portfolio to ensure 

that (1) project funds are spent according to U.S. government and DOL requirements; (2) 

projects achieve desired outcomes; and (3) lessons are learned and incorporated into existing and 

newly designed projects. In addition, OCFT uses impact evaluations in targeted areas to enhance 

understanding of which interventions are most effective and cost-efficient in reducing child labor 

and forced labor and in raising awareness and knowledge about the negative effects such labor 

abuses have on children and families. OCFT uses results and findings from impact and 

performance evaluations to inform and improve the design and implementation of its current and 

future projects and also makes this information available to the public for broader use. This 

approach is in line with OMB’s continued emphasis on increased program oversight and 

evaluation.

Office of International Relations and Economic Research

OIRER conducts activities to support ILAB’s mission, focusing on bilateral and multilateral 

policy engagement and research and reporting. These activities are intertwined, as research and 

reporting efforts feed into the development of policy positions for DOL and the USG in support 

of ILAB’s efforts to promote a fair global playing field for workers in the United States and 

around the world.

OIRER’s principal priorities in FY 2021 are to actively promote and defend U.S. labor, 

employment, and foreign policy interests in the ILO, OECD, G20, G7, IACML, and other 

international and regional organizations; to build useful labor relationships with key countries to 

benefit American workers and business; to work with the Department of State to support the 

labor diplomacy and labor attaché functions; to use its research programs to inform U.S. 

domestic and international policymaking; and to continue to provide Labor Department input 

into USG interagency policies and programs that deal with employment, social protection, and 

labor standards issues.

In the ILO, OIRER focuses on the following:

• Promotes USG priorities, most notably compliance with core labor standards. OIRER 

seeks to preserve the integrity, credibility, and effectiveness of the ILO’s mechanisms for 

receiving complaints and supervising the application of international labor standards. 

These mechanisms help to lift global labor standards and promote a fair global playing 

field for U.S. workers and businesses. 
TAB 2: State of Play

10

• Serves on the ILO Working Group dedicated to the review of the relevance of all ILO 

conventions and recommendations to ensure that the ILO has an up-to-date body of 

international labor standards.

• Engages in oversight of ILO implementation of its strategic plan for 2018–2021 and 

program and budget for 2020-21.

• Plays an active role in the development of the ILO 2022-25 Strategic Plan and 2022-23 

program and budget.

• Advances U.S. policy goals, including by encouraging the ILO to provide effective 

policy support in a cost-effective manner that helps countries strengthen their worker 

rights, employment, and effective, sustainable social protection programs, with a 

particular focus on economic and labor market pandemic recovery.

• Ensures USG compliance with its reporting obligations regarding implementation of 

international labor standards under the ILO Constitution.

• Represents the USG in meeting of the ILO Governing Body (November 2020, March, 

June, November 2021) and the International Labor Conference (June 2021).

Focusing international attention on worker rights, employment, and workplace issues is a major 

priority of OIRER in its participation in other international organizations. OIRER will continue 

to promote U.S. labor and employment priorities through the G20 Presidency of Saudi Arabia in 

2020, the Italian Presidency in 2021, and the G7 Presidency of the United Kingdom in 2021, as 

well as at meetings of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 

the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML), and Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation (APEC). OIRER performs the following specific tasks:

• Develops USG positions and represents DOL in meetings of the G20 Employment 

Working Group and supports the Secretary’s participation in the G20 Labor and 

Employment Ministerial Meetings;

• Plays a leading role in preparations for the 2021 Inter-American Conference of Ministers 

of Labor, and supports the participation of the Secretary or designated representative in 

the Conference;

• Coordinates DOL input to, and represents DOL in USG interagency preparations for, the 

UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the U.S. human rights record and DOL input 

into USG treaty reporting processes, including the periodic report on implementation of 

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

• Provides expert advice to the State Department in the development of USG positions on 

employment and labor issues in the UN General Assembly, Economic and Social 

Council, and other UN bodies; and

• Contributes concrete examples of labor rights violations to State Department reviews and 

assessments of the labor rights records of select other countries.

Other key OIRER priorities are as follows: 

• Conducting research and providing analysis on key global issues, such as the operation 

of efficient labor markets, the effect of international trade on employment and wages, 

workforce development and apprenticeship, issues pertaining to the future of work (such 
TAB 2: State of Play

11

as pandemic recovery, automation, digitalization, and benefits portability for 

individuals), women’s economic empowerment, paid leave and other social protection 

programs, and workplace safety and health. 

• Serving as co-chair the G20 OSH Network, with co-chair Turkey, and implementing the 

work plan for the group, mainly through virtual meetings and collaboration through the 

online platform. The work plan has been modified to reflect member countries’ 

emphasis on efforts to deal with COVID-19 and policy/program responses.

• Maintaining ongoing exchanges with the European Union, Germany, Japan, Qatar, and 

Switzerland and exploring the development of technical exchange programs with others.

• Developing plans to conduct virtual meetings with Germany, Switzerland, and the EU to 

explore employment policies and programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and 

how to prepare the workforce for the future, especially when economic recovery is 

underway. 

• Participating in the interagency processes that guide broader, U.S. Government strategic 

and economic dialogues led by other departments. OIRER will continue to maintain a 

high level of coordination with domestic agencies of DOL to ensure that DOL concerns 

and interests are brought to the fore.

COVID-19 will have lasting effects on the global economy and the performance of national labor 

markets. Monitoring and analyzing these effects has become part of the standing research 

programs that OIRER maintains. In 2021, this will include collaboration at the OECD to prepare 

analyses for discussion at an OECD Labor Ministerial in late 2021. Ministers will be invited to 

discuss how their labor markets can be made more resilient to pandemics and other shocks, and 

what that means for the use of technology in the future of work throughout the OECD.

OIRER coordinates DOL’s role in support of the labor diplomacy function, including supporting 

DOL-funded labor attachés serving in positions in selected U.S. embassies. In the vast majority 

of countries, where reporting on labor and employment issues is carried out by State Department 

Foreign Service Officers and local staff, OIRER seeks new opportunities to raise the profile of 

labor issues and improve the capacity for reporting, project troubleshooting, and engaging with 

host governments on labor and employment issues. OIRER prioritizes outreach and training for 

these officers, many of whom have had no training or background on labor issues or DOL, and 

will use new mechanisms, such as webinars, digital video conferences, and teleconferences with 

posts, to reinforce the relationship between labor officers and DOL.

Office of Trade and Labor Affairs

OTLA conducts a range of activities to support ILAB’s mission, with emphasis on trade 

enforcement. OTLA’s activities in the areas of policy engagement, technical assistance, and 

research and reporting support ILAB’s overall efforts to negotiate, monitor, and enforce labor 

provisions of trade agreements and trade preference programs.

Specific priorities include the following:
TAB 2: State of Play

12

• Ensuring that OTLA/ILAB’s expertise is utilized in the development and negotiation of 

the text of the U.S.–UK and U.S.–Kenya FTA negotiations, particularly the labor and 

dispute settlement chapters. Both negotiations are in their early stages, but are on 

expedited time frames. The U.S. has not yet tabled labor text in either negotiation, but 

the text and ongoing policy positions will reflect the USMCA model. Our policy 

positions are tailored to ensure the highest standard labor provisions to help protect U.S. 

workers’ and businesses’ interests.

• Establishing the mechanisms to monitor and enforce the labor aspects of the USMCA, 

which entered into forced on July 1, 2020. These mechanisms include an attaché 

program in Mexico, a hotline to receive tips from the public about labor abuses in 

Mexico, and an interagency program to act on formal petitions alleging violations of the 

USMCA by the Mexican government and certain Mexican worksites. 

• Increasing the office’s capacity to self-initiate dispute settlements with FTA partners.

• Overseeing and supporting the government of Honduras’ continued implementation of 

the U.S.-Honduras Labor Rights Monitoring and Action Plan (MAP), an agreement 

signed in December 2015, which outlines actions to address the legal, institutional, and 

practical challenges to labor law enforcement in Honduras identified in OTLA’s 2015 

submission report geared towards strengthening compliance with labor commitments in 

CAFTA-DR.

• Reviewing progress under, and facilitating the implementation of, the Colombian Action 

Plan Related to Labor Rights, addressing the recommendations in OTLA’s 2017 

submission report published under the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement

through Point of Contact Consultations, and engaging with Colombia to follow up to its 

commitments related tor OECD accession. ILAB has maintained a labor attaché in the 

Embassy in Bogota since 2017 to assist with all of these priorities.

• Incentivizing the government of Dominican Republic and the Dominican sugar industry 

to make improvements in labor conditions that are consistent with commitments in the 

(CAFTA-DR) and submission report recommendations, including by providing technical 

expertise where appropriate.

• Representing the DOL in the USG development finance interagency process, including 

the Treasury-led interagency and the U.S. International Development Finance 

Corporation coordinating group. DOL-ILAB leads the labor expert group in the 

interagency policymaking process for multilateral development banks (MDBs), including 

monitoring the implementation of the World Bank’s and regional MDB labor safeguards 

policies, and providing input and voting positions to the interagency on investment 

project and program finance through the Treasury-led Working Group on Multilateral 

Assistance.

• Enforcing the labor eligibility requirements of the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity 

through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE II) in the Haitian apparel sector. 

• Enforcing trade preference program eligibility criteria, through GSP annual assessment 

and country practice reviews. Specifically, monitoring and enforcing the eligibility 
TAB 2: State of Play

13

requirements for Algeria, Azerbaijan, Burma, Cambodia, Egypt, Eritrea, Georgia, 

Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe.

• Enforcing the labor eligibility requirements of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act 

(AGOA) and pursuing increased strategic engagement with various countries via 

interagency work plans, in which DOL will play a lead role. Monitoring progress made 

in Mauritania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two countries whose AGOA 

benefits were terminated but are seeking reinstatement. 

The following FY 2021 priorities for technical assistance aim to ensure that U.S. workers and 

businesses can compete on a fair global playing field by promoting trade partner countries’ 

fulfillment of their commitments to international labor standards:

• Conducting effective oversight and monitoring of active technical assistance projects in 

OTLA’s current portfolio, which are designed to improve workers’ rights and working 

conditions and ensure compliance with labor laws and standards in trade partner 

countries. 

• Providing targeted technical assistance to improve labor law enforcement among U.S. 

trade partners, in tandem with policy engagement and other enforcement tools, to 

promote full compliance with labor-related trade commitments to the U.S. 

• Providing targeted technical assistance to workers, workers’ organizations, and other civil 

society groups operating in trade partner countries to help them defend and advance 

workers’ rights.

• Providing targeted technical assistance to industry partners, employers, and employers’ 

organizations operating in trade partner countries to promote their compliance with laborrelated laws, policies, standards and trade commitments and to increase their awareness 

of the economic benefits of such compliance. 

• Enhancing the sustainability of project outcomes, particularly of USDOL-funded Better 

Work projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Jordan, and Vietnam.

• Supporting and facilitating systems change in Mexico for the effective implementation of 

USMCA labor commitments.

Key Agency Stakeholders

ILAB engages on a regular basis with a number of key stakeholders, including leaders from other 

U.S. government agencies; Congressional offices; business, labor, and civil society 

organizations; foreign governments; and international organizations.

In terms of formal mechanisms for stakeholder input, the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade 

Negotiations and Trade Policy (LAC) is the primary advisory committee for providing the 

President with information on labor-related trade issues. The Secretary of Labor co-chairs the 

LAC with the United States Trade Representative (USTR). LAC Members elected United 

Steelworkers President Thomas Conway as the LAC Chair in June 2020. DOL and USTR 

hosted a virtual LAC Principals meeting on Friday, August 21, via a teleconference line due to 

the pandemic. Topics included USMCA, China, and ongoing trade negotiations. Principals’ 
TAB 2: State of Play

14

meetings are held at DOL and ILAB’s DUS plays a critical role in preparing the Secretary for the 

meeting.

The U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) and the American Federation of Labor and 

Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) are key stakeholders with regard to the ILO, 

where they represent U.S. business and worker interests, respectively. The USCIB and AFLCIO participate in consultative meetings prior to each meeting of the ILO Governing Body, and 

in a briefing prior to the annual International Labor Conference. Both organizations are also 

members of the President’s Committee on the International Labor Organization, which is headed 

by the Secretary of Labor and charged with overseeing U.S. participation in the ILO.
TAB 3: Calendar

15

TAB 3: CALENDAR

USMCA-Specific Calendar of Events

Activity Frequency

Interagency Labor Committee Meeting Every 90 days for the 5-

year period following the 

enactment of USMCA and 

every 180 days for the 

subsequent 5 years.

Interagency Labor Committee Report to Congress Every 180 days for 10 

years, starting 1/29/2020.

Mexico labor attache reports on efforts undertaken by Mexico to 

comply with its labor obligations

Quarterly

USMCA Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force Meeting Every 90 days

USMCA Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force – Report to 

Congress

Biannually

USMCA Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force – Enforcement 

Plan Regarding Goods Produced by or With Forced Labor in 

Mexico and Report to the Interagency Labor Committee on 

concerns or allegations filed

December 2020 (tentative)

Event Date

Deadline for awarding cooperative agreements funded by ILAB’s 

annual appropriations

December 31, 2020

ILO Governing Body Meeting March 2021

World Day Against Child Labor June 12, 2021

ILO Governing Body Meeting June 2021

International Labor Conference June 2021

Release of the Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor Report September 2021

ILO Governing Body Meeting November 2021
TAB 4: Budget

16

TAB 4: BUDGET

BUDGET AUTHORITY AND FTE SUMMARY

(Dollars in millions)

FY 2017

Enacted

FY 2018

Enacted

FY 2019

Enacted

FY 2020

Enacted

FY 2021

Request

Budget 

Authority

$86.1 $86.1 $86.1 $96.1 $18.7

FTE 115 108 114 110 94

At-A-Glance

• The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) is funded in the Departmental 

Management appropriation. Funding for salaries and expenses has one-year availability 

and funding for international labor activities has an additional quarter of availability. 

Budget and FTE Trends

• ILAB’s enacted budget authority has ranged between $86.1 million and $96.1 million 

from Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 to FY 2020. 

• Beginning in FY 2008, the appropriations language for the Departmental Management 

account included specific directives on the use of ILAB’s grants funding for child labor 

reduction and prevention, and new funding for worker rights grants. The appropriations 

language was changed and the FY 2020 language directs ILAB to spend no more than 

$53.8 million to combat exploitative child labor and not less than $13.5 million to 

implement model programs that address worker rights issues.

• The FY 2021 President’s Budget eliminated the technical assistance grants and further 

reduced ILAB’s budget to $18.7 million. 

• ILAB FY 2020 enacted funding is $96.1 million and 110 FTE. The FY 2020 House bill 

funds ILAB at $122.1 million. This is an increase of $36 million over FY 2019 as 

enacted. Of the increase, $6 million is for staff and $30 million is for technical assistance 

to countries with which the U.S. has trade agreements.

• In FY 2020, ILAB received a supplemental appropriation of $210 million for 

implementation of the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA). These funds 

are available for both technical assistance ($180 million) and for salaries and expenses 

($30 million). Technical assistance funds are available through FY 2024 and salaries and 

expenses funds are available through FY 2027. 

Upcoming Issues

• ILAB’s grants funding continues to be an area of focus for the appropriations 

committees. Additional attention has been focused on ILAB’s free trade agreementrelated responsibilities. 
TAB 4: Budget

17
TAB 4: Budget

18
TAB 5: Agency Performance

19

TAB 5: AGENCY PERFORMANCE

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)’s mission is to promote a fair global playing 

field for workers in the United States and around the world by enforcing trade commitments; 

strengthening labor standards; and combating international child labor, forced labor, and human 

trafficking. In the Department of Labor’s 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, ILAB’s Strategic Objective 

is to promote a fair global playing field for workers and businesses in the United States by 

enforcing trade commitments, strengthening labor standards, and combating international child 

labor, forced labor, and modern slavery.

ILAB’s strategies to accomplish its mission are (1) Trade Enforcement; (2) Policy Engagement; 

(3) Technical Assistance; and (4) Research and Reporting. ILAB implements these strategies 

through a variety of compliance, advocacy, monitoring, engagement, negotiating, and 

enforcement tools through both internal and external stakeholders.

ILAB performs activities to support the requirements of the United States-Mexico-Canada 

Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act. These requirements call for ILAB to monitor 

compliance with labor obligations in Mexico, including through participation in the Interagency 

Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement and the deployment of up to five labor 

attachés to U.S. embassies or consulates in Mexico. The USMCA Implementation Act also calls 

for ILAB to support reforms of the labor justice system in Mexico. This includes grants to 

support worker-focused capacity building; efforts to reduce workplace discrimination in Mexico; 

efforts to reduce child labor and forced labor in Mexico; efforts to reduce human trafficking; 

efforts to reduce child exploitation; and other efforts related to implementation of the USMCA.

ILAB produces the Congressionally-mandated and Executive Order-directed reports including 

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (TDA Report), the 

List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, and the List of Products Produced by 

Forced or Indentured Child Labor.

ILAB utilizes a variety of performance measures to track its progress in achieving the intended 

outputs and outcomes to support its mission. The measures below are broad indicators of these 

efforts.

• Number of active technical assistance projects. (ILAB-01)

• Number of trade partner countries in which labor rights are systematically monitored 

and analyzed. (ILAB-03)

A key part of ILAB’s strategy for promoting policies that advance U.S. interests and promote 

sound employment policies and improved protection of worker rights is to support technical 

assistance programming to increase the capacity of governments, non-governmental 

organizations, private sector actors, and other relevant groups to take the actions needed to 

comply with labor laws and standards and eliminate labor abuses. By eliminating such abuses 

and improving working conditions, ILAB-supported programming promotes a fair playing field 

for U.S. workers and businesses.
TAB 5: Agency Performance

20

ILAB frequently funds targeted projects that promote compliance with labor-related trade 

commitments--a strategic way to help willing trade partners comply with their obligations. To 

support this strategy, ILAB partners with governments that have demonstrated a willingness to 

work on labor issues through targeted, short-term technical assistance projects. These technical 

assistance projects serve as demonstration projects, piloting strategies to build capacity in areas 

such as strengthening labor law enforcement and compliance; occupational safety and health; 

mine safety; payment of wages; hours of work; discrimination; labor-management relations; and 

eliminating child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking. ILAB’s strategy for improving 

working conditions and combating labor abuses involves active participation of governments, 

private sector, and civil society actors to ensure each does their part to sustain improvements in 

working conditions and workers’ rights, and to end abusive labor practices.

ILAB conducts research to inform all of its strategies. ILAB maintains standing research 

programs that allow it to respond expertly to certain reporting mandates and requests from 

Congress and other stakeholders. It also provides additional detail on how ILAB research 

authoritatively informs certain policy issues that are deliberated internationally, and that are 

important to U.S. workers and businesses.

ILAB’s research activities focus on the following: (1) analyzing the effects of trade and trade 

policies on U.S. workers; (2) researching the ways workers and businesses may be affected by 

the global economy; (3) analyzing and reporting on countries’ laws and practices for compliance 

with international labor standards; and (4) supporting research and evaluation on issues and 

questions related to child labor, forced labor, and worker rights.

67 70 70

78

62

47

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020

Number of countries with which ILAB engages in technical 

cooperation through technical assistance, technical 

exchanges, or other forms of collaboration