What is the Office of Administrative Law Judges?

The Department of Labor's Office of Administrative Law Judges is the "trial court" for many of the Department's programs. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has eight District Offices. Judges hear cases involving a wide variety of labor-related actions, such as black lung benefits, longshore workers' compensation, immigration-related alien labor certifications and enforcement actions, nuclear and environmental whistleblower cases, Fair Labor Standards Act enforcement actions, and OFCCP civil rights actions. These are only a few examples. The Office of Administrative Law Judges also houses two appellate boards: the Board of Contract Appeals (BCA), and the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA). For additional information, see About OALJ

OALJ is NOT affiliated with the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), which is an independent Federal agency created to decide contests of citations or penalties resulting from OSHA inspections of American work places; the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, which is an independent adjudicative agency that provides administrative trial and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act; the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is an independent Federal agency created to enforce the National Labor Relations Act; or the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), which was created to hear and make final appellate decisions on claims of federal employees arising under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA).

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