U.S. Department of Labor

Office of Public Affairs

November 2020
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

TAB 2: STATE OF PLAY ...................................................................................................... 7

TAB 3: CALENDAR ............................................................................................................ 14

TAB 4: BUDGET.................................................................................................................. 15
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

1

TAB 1: AGENCY ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

Mission

The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) directs and coordinates the public affairs programs and 

activities of the U.S. Department of Labor. OPA is the chief adviser on public affairs to the 

Secretary, Deputy Secretary, agency heads, and departmental staff in developing communication 

strategies, public affairs, and media relations goals and objectives.

OPA’s mission includes formulating and implementing public affairs policies, guidelines and 

standards regulating all aspects of DOL public affairs activities. In directing DOL public affairs 

activities, OPA serves as the point of contact for news media and public inquiries, the clearance 

and dissemination point for all DOL public affairs materials, and the development and 

maintenance of the content and presentation and related standards for DOL public websites, 

digital media, audiovisual, contact center, and other communication platforms.

For activities involving the Secretary, OPA drafts speeches, provides digital media and 

audiovisual resources, and organizes social media/web-based information and educational 

materials to amplify Secretary and Departmental initiatives on behalf of the public, stakeholders,

and the news media.

Authorizing Legislation

The authority to carry out public affairs responsibilities is delegated to OPA in Secretary’s 

Orders 06-1983, 02-2005, and 08-2006, and Department of Labor Manual Series (DLMS)

Chapters 9-100 (Public Affairs Program) and 9-200 (DOL Social Media Policy).

Organizational Structure

OPA is led by an Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, who serves as a senior adviser to the 

Secretary of Labor. The Assistant Secretary serves as the communications liaison with the 

White House, White House Cabinet affairs, the Office of the Secretary of Labor, the Solicitor of 

Labor, and the DOL Office of Public Liaison. 
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

2

Organizational Chart 

Division of Creative 

Services

Ray Flores

(Career GS)

Field Services

Michael D’Aquino

(Career GS)

Lock Up Administration

Megan Kindelan

(Career GS)

Division of Media and 

Editorial Services

Vacant

(Career GS)

National Contact Center 

Tanya Slater Lowe

(Career GS)

Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs

Robert F. Bozzuto III (Non-Career PA)

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Michael Trupo (Career SES)

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Eric Holland (Non-Career SES)

Chief of Staff

J. Ross Stewart (Non-Career GS)

Senior Advisor for Policy & Media

Erica Wright (Non-Career GS)

Senior Advisor for Digital Strategy

Stan Olshefski (Non-Career GS)

Senior Advisor for Communications

Megan Sweeney (Non-Career GS)

Press Secretary

Emily Weeks (Non-Career GS)

Deputy Press Secretary

Sabin Sidney (Non-Career GS)

Special Assistant 

Mattie Nicholson (Non-Career GS)

Speechwriter

Vacant (Non-Career GS)

Administrative Officer

Sarah Harding

(Career GS)

Executive Assistant 

Beverly Eaves

(Career GS)

The Assistant Secretary directs OPA’s role in arranging or responding to news-media interviews 

with the Secretary, the Secretary’s travel and events, op-eds, and other matters directly involving 

the Secretary. The head of OPA also oversees the OPA role in major enforcement actions, 

regulations, news releases, digital media strategy, and matters involving congressional oversight, 

“open government,” and “transparency.”

The Assistant Secretary is supported by a non-career Deputy Assistant Secretary, a career 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, and a non-career Chief of Staff. As a general matter, the three focus 

on important news-media inquiries and agency announcements; rollout campaigns; policy 

directives; regional offices; the DOL website; and OPA’s budget, procurement, and personnel 
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

3

actions. The deputies and the Chief of Staff also represent OPA at planning and management 

meetings convened by the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary.

OPA Division components are as follows:

Division of Media & Editorial Services, National Office—Also known as the “press office,” 

the Division of Media and Editorial Services handles news-media inquiries on behalf of the 

Secretary and DOL agencies; prepares responses to the news media; plans coordinated rollout 

strategies for major initiatives; provides recommendations to the Secretary regarding live events; 

provides writing and editing support, including speechwriting, for matters involving the 

Secretary; reviews and approves agency public-affairs concepts and plans involving major 

national programs and initiatives; reviews and approves all news releases before issuance; 

reviews and approves draft materials for posting on websites; partners with OCIO on all public 

website standards, policies, and communications; and serves as a coordinating clearinghouse to 

ensure internal communication goals are met among OPA components and DOL agencies. The 

office also manages DOL’s digital-media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, 

LinkedIn, and the blog, and exercises editorial oversight over press releases, blogs, publications, 

and other public-facing materials. In recent years, the National Office press office has been 

capped at 29 FTE; 12 of those positions have historically been reserved for Senior Executive 

Service and Schedule C appointees. 

The digital team (currently two FTE, though previously as many as five FTE) oversees long-term 

digital strategy for all major digital campaigns within the Department, and provides guidance and 

support to agencies on digital strategy. The team oversees, writes, and reviews content for blogs, 

the DOL newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Flickr, and YouTube. The team 

collaborates with the Office of the Secretary and all DOL agencies on developing and executing 

digital communication strategies, maintains an Employee Social Media Handbook for staff, and 

coordinates with the Office of the Solicitor to provide training on social-media ethics and best 

practices. The team supervises the Secretary’s accounts and all agency accounts, indirectly 

supervises a handful of accounts that have received permission to operate independently or are 

run through contractors (BLS’ Twitter and YouTube; Job Corps’ Facebook, Instagram, and 

YouTube), and gathers data on account performance. The team also manages all digital

engagement events through the accounts (including live streams, Twitter chats, Facebook Live, 

etc.), and coordinates with Creative Services on designing digital graphics for social media, 

webpages, and the newsletter. 

Division of Field Services—Six regional public affairs offices (12 career FTE), led by a 

Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist of Field Services (currently staffed out of Atlanta), handle 

news-media inquiries, advise national and regional leadership, and plan and execute publicaffairs programs. The regional offices, which are a direct extension of the OPA National Office, 

support regional visits by the Secretary and other senior officials. The regional OPA offices are 

located in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco.

Division of Creative Services—Serves as the Department's authority for all audiovisual, 

photography, and graphics communications. The staff provides a wide range of graphic design, 

audiovisual communication, and photography services for the Office of the Secretary and DOL 
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

4

agencies. They develop and manage multiagency communication contracts in support of DOL 

agency initiatives and programs. The team reviews all visual communications to ensure 

accuracy and conformance of content, format, layout, and design with DOL standards in terms of 

policy and graphic integrity—including policy and standards for use and placement of the DOL 

seal. Staffing includes a director, four audiovisual staff members, an art director, a 

photographer, and an administrative assistant. They are augmented by contract staff.

National Contact Center (NCC)—Provides the public with consistent, accurate, and 

understandable information services covering a wide range of Departmental programs and 

initiatives through nationwide toll-free calls, e-mail, texting, chat, and publication fulfillment 

service. The center, through contracts, provides live English- and Spanish-speaking customerservice representatives, and has the ability to provide interpretation services for more than 200 

additional languages. The NCC team delivers these services using a customer-relationship 

management system, which includes up-to-date DOL information to provide general and referral 

information, e-mail, fulfillment of product and service requests, and complaint intake. The 

NCCs main toll-free help line, 1-866-4-USA-DOL (TTY 1-877-889-5627), is the universal 

access point to all of DOL and is also used for special prescheduled DOL events, as well as the 

number used for small DOL agency public communications. Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 8 

p.m. ET on weekdays, except federal holidays. Round-the-clock coverage (24x7x365) is 

provided for the OSHA, MSHA, and Job Corps programs.
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

5

Workforce At-A-Glance

Organizational Changes During the Past Four Years

In 2018, the Office of Public Affairs undertook a reorganization to include the establishment of a 

Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist for Field Services, a Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist 

for Lockup Administration, and to formally rename the Division of Audiovisual Communication 

Services to the Division of Creative Services. The effort included a realignment and 

recertification of fifteen position descriptions across the organization. Work to standardize 

agency position descriptions according to their OPM occupational series, e.g., 1035 for Public 

Affairs Specialist, continued in 2019 to better position the agency to streamline job opportunity 

announcements. In 2020, all data lockups ended, and the supervisor for lockups is engaged in 

decommissioning lockup facilities and will transition to another role within OPA.

In 2020, the Office of Public Affairs initiated an additional reorganization to include the 
TAB 1: Agency Organizational Overview

6

establishment of a Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist in the Division of Media and Editorial 

Services and to centralize OPA administrative functions under the Administrative Officer. These 

supervisors will balance out the management team, with the press office, in particular, having a 

more standardized management structure after years of reporting directly to the career deputy 

assistant secretary.

As part of the Department’s Enterprise-wide Shared Services initiative, OPA’s Division of 

Enterprise Communications transitioned to OCIO in the fourth quarter of FY 2020. Centralizing 

information technology functions within OCIO means that OPA is a “customer” agency, which 

sets the presentation and content standards for DOL public websites, while OCIO acts as the 

service provider. OCIO and OPA continue to work in partnership on enterprise communication 

activities.

Key Leaders 

• Robert Bozzuto, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs

• Eric Holland, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

• Michael Trupo, Deputy Assistant Secretary

• J. Ross Stewart, Chief of Staff

• Raymond Flores, Director of Creative Services

• Tanya Slater Lowe, Program Manager, National Contact Center

• Michael D’Aquino, Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist of Field Services

• Megan Kindelan, Supervisory Public Affairs Specialist for Lockup Administration

• Sarah Harding, Administrative Officer
TAB 2: State of Play

7

TAB 2: STATE OF PLAY 

Key Meetings, Decisions and Announcements

Monthly

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, usually on the first Friday of the month, issues the Employment 

Situation report, which includes the nation’s unemployment rate and data on job creation. The 

Secretary is asked by news media to participate in broadcast, print, and online interviews. Every 

Thursday morning, a weekly count of initial unemployment insurance claims is released, 

drawing business press attention and commentary on the health of the economy.

January-February 2021 

The news media will ask for interviews with the Secretary as a new member of the Cabinet, 

seeking news on the direction the Department will take on labor, economic issues, and policies, 

as well as for profiles and feature stories. The OPA digital team will coordinate with incoming 

staff on launching official social-media accounts for the Secretary upon arrival.

Staff from business publications and trade press often take time at the start of an administration 

to examine regulatory agendas. 

Depending on the status of congressional appropriations, the Department’s Fiscal Year 2022 

budget may be announced in early February, in coordination with the Office of Management and 

Budget. The Department’s budget draws attention from many major media outlets and the trade 

press that follow each agency agenda closely.

The “change of command” and “inside DOL” scoops and features will be sought by Politico, 

Bloomberg, the Washington Post, and other D.C.-based news organizations that specialize in 

features on government transitions and appointees to senior leadership positions. Industry 

publications will ask for the names and titles of new appointees for directories that they publish 

for their members; some news media also publish lists of new appointees and their titles.

By end of March 2021

The annual report on veterans’ employment is released in early March; with the reduction in the 

number of troops returning from abroad, major media attention has waned. Publications and 

websites that focus on military issues continue to cover this annual report.

March typically includes the announcements of several grants that each draw coverage from 

niche media or trade press. They include the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program grants, 

National Farmworker Jobs Program grants, and the Senior Community Service Employment 

Program grants. Congress also appropriates funding for the Mine Safety and Health 

Administration’s state grants program, and these grants are award from December through June 

of each fiscal year.
TAB 2: State of Play

8

By end of April 2021 

Workers’ Memorial Day is observed every year on April 28, honoring those workers who died 

on the job. It is also the day that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was 

established in 1971. Events are organized around the country, and typically receive positive news 

coverage.

Press coverage also can be anticipated for grants announced during April. They include 

Apprenticeship USA grants and Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupation 

grants.

The Department’s annual Honor Awards Ceremony is held in April or May, providing the 

Secretary with an opportunity for internal communications to all DOL employees. The Secretary 

traditionally delivers the keynote remarks, which are livestreamed to regional offices.

Policy and Regulatory Issues 

The following is a sampling of common topics raised by reporters during the last several months, 

as identified by the Office of Public Affairs’ Press Office. It is likely that some issues included in 

the initial October draft have receded, and that new ones have come into play.

The issues are broken out by department sub-agency below.

Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)

The Department often receives questions related to International Labor Affairs on the following 

topics: Forced labor in Xinjiang, China; recent ILAB-funded report on child labor in West 

African cocoa; enforcement of labor provisions of free trade agreements; technical assistance to 

foreign countries on child labor/budget proposal; ILAB’s two flagship research products: 

Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and List of Goods Made with Child Labor and 

Forced Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

The Department often receives questions related to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the 

following topics: monthly employment situation report; data collection during pandemic; 

methodology change to seasonal adjustment as a result of pandemic; occupational wages 

statistics; occupational injury and illness statistics; employment projections.

Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing Rule and other Rules: There has been 

significant media interest in recent EBSA proposed rules, particularly the ESG proposal. 

Reporters have asked if the comment period was long enough, if EBSA has considered the 

comments, and if the rule is being rushed through the rulemaking process. Similar inquiries have 

been received for other proposals including Proxy Voting and the Fiduciary proposal, but the 

ESG proposal seems to be the primary focus.
TAB 2: State of Play

9

Employment and Training Administration (ETA)

Top subjects for ETA media questions include new pandemic Unemployment Insurance 

programs; clarifying questions on weekly UI data releases; H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B rulemaking; 

Job Corps reopening plans; apprenticeship programs/rulemaking; all ETA grant programs; 

foreign labor certification data questions; Trade Adjustment Assistance questions/job loss due to 

global trade.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)

COVID-19 Enforcement: MSHA has been getting questions about COVID-19 enforcement: How 

many mines have been cited for violations? How many cases have been reported? How does the 

agency track cases? Why hasn’t the agency issued a temporary standard? 

Data Requests: MSHA frequently receives questions about its Mine Data Retrieval System, 

which contains public information about investigations, incidents, and penalties, but which 

reporters find difficult to understand. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Coronavirus complaints and citations: OSHA receives questions about workplace safety 

complaints weekly: How many coronavirus-related complaints has OSHA received since the 

pandemic? How many COVID-19 related complaints has OSHA received in a specific industry? 

Why have the penalty amounts on the COVID-related citations been minimal? What should 

workers do if they feel unsafe at their workplace due to COVID-related hazards? What guidance 

is in place to protect workers from COVID-19?

Coronavirus Temporary Emergency Standard: OSHA has been getting criticism and questions 

about implementing an emergency standard: Does OSHA have a response to critics who say that 

it is neglecting its duty of keeping workers safe, by not drafting a temporary emergency standard 

during the coronavirus? Why hasn’t the agency issued a temporary standard? Some constituents 

feel that OSHA’s coronavirus guidelines for workers aren't enough because they are not 

enforceable; what is the agency saying about this?

Meat and poultry processing industry inspections/investigations: OSHA has been getting 

questions about what measures/guidelines are being enforced at meatpacking plants: There 

continue to be outbreaks at meatpacking plants at companies like Smithfield and JBS, what is 

OSHA doing to improve worker safety? What is the agency’s coronavirus guidance for 

meatpacking plants? Why did OSHA decrease its number of inspections of meat and poultry 

plants during the coronavirus pandemic? How do you respond to criticism that OSHA has been 

missing in action during the pandemic, particularly with regard to meatpacking workers?

Meatpacking workers have said they continue to be afraid of contracting COVID-19 and 

bringing it home to their families. How has the Department ensured that workers in meat plants 

are free from COVID-related hazards, given that it is known to cause death or serious physical 

harm?

Employers reporting COVID-19 positive cases: OSHA has received questions about whether it is 

mandatory for employers to notify workers of COVID-19 cases and how they should report it: 
TAB 2: State of Play

10

What is the reporting guidance on COVID-19 hospitalizations and fatalities? Are hospitals/health 

care facilities required to report COVID-19 illnesses to OSHA or just record them? Does OSHA 

have data on COVID-19 deaths/illnesses? Does the agency have data on COVID-19 reported 

illnesses and deaths at certain regions/state or specific on the healthcare facilities/hospitals? 

What are the agency’s regulations on reporting COVID-19 related illnesses that workers suspect 

they contracted on the job?

Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)

Job Accommodations: ODEP has been getting questions about accommodations employers can 

provide to their employees in COVID. What accommodations are needed to keep people with 

disabilities safe? The concern is that we need a robust economy that includes people with 

disabilities who are losing their jobs due to COVID. (Note: Mental health of America’s workers, 

inclusive apprenticeships, and accessible technology may be worth revisiting later.)

14C (Subminimum Wage): Should employers in certain situations be allowed to pay people with 

disabilities less than minimum wage?

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

Executive Order 13950 – Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping: EO 13950 prohibits race or sex 

stereotyping/scapegoating in federal contractors’ workplace diversity and inclusion trainings. 

Hotline and email address have been established to receive and investigate complaints under 

existing Executive Order 11246 as well as Executive Order 13950.

OFCCP Focused Reviews: OFCCP issued Directive 2018-04, Focused Reviews of Contractor 

Compliance with Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503), 

and Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), which requires that future 

scheduling lists include focused reviews.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Imitative: OFCCP, with the White House Initiative 

on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, is developing outreach and recruitment avenues 

between federal contractors and HBCUs to offer internship, apprenticeship, and entry-level job 

resources.

Opinion Letters: Under Directive 2019-03, OFCCP committed to issuing opinion letters that 

provide guidance on applying OFCCP regulations to specific situations, including DIR 2018-03 

(religious exemption). 

Enforcement:

- Princeton University, early resolution conciliation agreement to resolve allegations of 

compensation discrimination

- Microsoft, agreement to resolve alleged hiring discrimination 

- Wells Fargo, conciliation agreement to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination 

- Cisco Systems Inc., early resolution conciliation agreement to pay $2,000,000 in lost wages 

and interest plus at least $2,750,000 in pay-equity adjustments
TAB 2: State of Play

11

Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS)

NPRM - Labor organization and annual financial reports - LM Form Revisions: OLMS 

proposed a rule to improve the Form LM-2 Labor Organization Annual Report and introduce a 

Form LM-2 Long Form. 

NPRM - LMRDA Labor organization coverage of Intermediate Bodies: OLMS proposed a rule 

governing intermediate bodies that are composed wholly of public sector organizations but are 

subordinate to national or international labor organizations that are covered by the LaborManagement Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP)

COVID-19: OWCP has received a few questions about how many federal employees have filed 

claims related to workplace coronavirus exposure, and how many claims have been approved. 

Black Lung Disability Trust Fund: The BLDTF pays benefits when the liable operator doesn’t 

pay, and it has borrowed billions to cover costs. The problem grows with every large operation 

that declares bankruptcy. OWCP gets questions about how much money is available, whether it’s 

sustainable, and how quickly/effectively it disburses payment. Recently Bob Murray, who fought 

against black lung regulation while heading the now bankrupt Murray Energy, filed for black 

lung benefits, and OWCP has received questions about that as well.

Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS)

Grants and Services: The Veterans Opportunity Grant is something to monitor. Also, the 

Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for military spouses is ongoing.

HIRE Vets Medallion: This is an annual program, awarded in November–but VETS raises 

awareness and encourages applications year round. 

Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Proposed Rule - Independent Contractor Status: Proposed rule would address how to determine 

whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards 

Act. 

Final Rule - Joint Employer Part 791: A final rule interpreting joint employer status under the 

FLSA, when an employee performs work for his or her employer that simultaneously benefits 

another individual or entity.

Final Rule - Fluctuating workweek method of computing overtime: A final rule that allows 

employers to pay bonuses or other incentive-based pay to salaried, nonexempt employees whose 

hours vary from week to week.

Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program: Employers are encouraged to 

conduct audits and, if they discover overtime or minimum wage violations, to self-report those 

violations.
TAB 2: State of Play

12

Temporary Rule - Paid Leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA):

FFCRA gives private employers with fewer than 500 employees tax credits to reimburse for the 

cost of providing paid leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. 

Women's Bureau (WB)

Childcare: Women’s Bureau has been getting questions regarding the effects of the pandemic on 

childcare: How is COVID-19 affecting childcare? What is the Women’s Bureau doing to support 

concerns with childcare and working women? 

Impact of the COVID-19 on working women: Women’s Bureau has been getting questions 

regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on working women: How is COVID-19 affecting women in 

the workplace? Is the Women’s Bureau tracking data to measure COVID-19’s impact on 

women? How are COVID-19 and the recession affecting fertility rates in the U.S.?

Major Grants and Contracts

OPA manages the following major contracts above the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT):

• The news clipping service contract, which provides a weekday DOL news briefing 

package to senior leadership (1605DC-20-F-00080, TechMis LLC);

• The contact center operations and support blanket purchase agreement (BPA) (1605TA20-A-0008, Cognosante LLC);

• A software license contract for Salesforce products and services related to NCC 

operations (1605DC-19-F-00327 METGreen Solutions Inc.); and

• A graphic design and production BPA, which provides graphic materials for internal and 

external events and publications, as well as infographics for social media and other DOL 

online communications (DOL-OPS-16-A-0010, Grafik Industries Ltd).

Audits and Reports

There are no outstanding audit items. OPA resolved a long-standing audit issue regarding the 

security of economic data when all data lockups ended in March 2020.

Management 

One of the central challenges facing OPA is to innovate continually how the Department tells its 

story and to create a narrative that underscores the importance of the Department’s mission in 

protecting workers and promoting the necessity of good jobs and economic opportunity for all 

Americans.

OPA supports a “one DOL” approach to major issues and matters, focusing on the Secretary as 

the voice of the Department and as the catalyst for setting priorities and identifying and 

launching initiatives. This approach requires collaboration with DOL agencies and components, 

coordination among press officers and digital-media teams, and a robust website that provides 

information and educational materials to the public. The goal is simple: to increase the impact of 

the Secretary and the Department.
TAB 2: State of Play

13

OPA also has taken steps to meet the needs of the people effectively and efficiently. After 

extensive market research, OPA’s National Contact Center moved its call center and e-mail 

response teams to Salesforce, a cloud-based service provider. It provides case management, 

unified contact-center tools, knowledge management, document management, and intuitive

unified reporting dashboards. Salesforce’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution 

is used by businesses in every industry to increase efficiency, improve customer service, and 

lower operations costs.

Key Agency Stakeholders

Major media, such as the New York Times; Washington Post; Associated Press; Bloomberg 

News; Wall Street Journal; Thomson Reuters; Politico; CNBC; CNN; and Fox Business News 

interact frequently with OPA. 

A wide array of news organizations seeks information from the Department because of the DOL 

mission and the Department’s reach into nearly every workplace in the nation. Inquiries include 

questions about jobs data; job training; safety hazards at industrial plants; international trade;

trade-adjustment assistance; child labor and forced labor; employment-based immigration;

veterans’ employment services; unemployment insurance; retirement and health care; paid leave;

and workforce development. These news organizations range from local TV stations to regional 

newspapers to national outlets. OSHA and Wage and Hour enforcement actions and DOL grant 

programs generate local and regional coverage on a regular basis.

Internally, OPA views the Secretary, senior leadership, and DOL agencies as “clients” and 

stakeholders. The audiovisual staff produce training videos and create graphics and posters; the 

press office and digital team collaborate on messaging and impact—all on behalf of DOL 

component agencies.
TAB 3: Calendar

14

TAB 3: CALENDAR

MSHA’s state grants program is authorized to award grants to assist states in training and 

retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines, 

including miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone, sand, and gravel 

mining operations. With this formula-based grant, Congress is authorized to appropriate up to 

$10 million annually. In recent years, MSHA has awarded $8,441,000 annually to State Grants 

Programs. The estimated time frame to award grant funds is December through June of each 

fiscal year.

Event Date

Unemployment Insurance New Weekly Claims Every Thursday

Peak processing period for Office of Foreign Labor Certification (H2A 

and H2B)

December -

February

Unemployment Situation Report, i.e., “Numbers Day” - first Friday of 

every month

February 5, 2021

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Release – second Wednesday 

of every month

February 10, 2021

President’s Budget Proposal Released (Feb. 10 in 2020) Early February 

2021

Trade Adjustment Assistance Branding and Outreach Campaign Ongoing

Employment Activities Pre-Release grants February 2021

Reports on Submissions Under Free Trade Agreements February 2021

Annual Employment Situation Report for Veterans Early March 2021

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program grants (March 27 in 2020) March 2021

Senior Community Service Employment Program grants – Historically 

awarded in March.

March 2021

Reentry Demonstration Projects for Young Adults grants (March 16 in 

2020)

March 2021

MSHA’s state grants program awards grant funds (see additional detail 

below)

December 2020 –

June 2021

National Farmworker Jobs Program grants (April 14 in 2020) April 2021

Workers’ Memorial Day April 28, 2021
TAB 4: Budget

15

TAB 4: BUDGET

Along with the Office of the Secretary and other offices that directly support the Secretary in 

developing policy and managing the Department, OASP is funded through the Departmental 

Management appropriation. For information on this budget activity, please see the “Program 

Direction and Support Budget Overview” (Cross Agency Paper 5.b).