California Department of Industrial Relations
| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1927 |
| Headquarters | Elihu M. Harris State Office Building, Oakland, California |
| Parent department | Labor and Workforce Development Agency |
| Website | www |
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) is a department of the government of the state of California which was initially created in 1927. It is currently part of the Cabinet-level California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. It is currently headquartered at the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in Oakland.
At its inception, the Department merged a variety of existing agencies, some of which were later moved into separate departments or dissolved.
In 1935, the state employment agencies were transferred to the new Department of Employment, the ancestor of the modern California Employment Development Department. The Department had a Division of Immigration and Housing which had evolved from an earlier agency established in 1912. The immigrant aid program was repealed in 1945, and the housing portion was transferred into the California Department of Housing and Community Development in 1965.
Today, the DIR's major components are the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Division of Workers' Compensation.
DIR also includes the Industrial Welfare Commission, the Office of Self Insurance Plans, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, and the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board.
The Division of Workers' Compensation and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board are the descendants of the adjudication functions of the old Industrial Accident Commission. DWC operates 24 district offices throughout the state at which workers' compensation judges (administrative law judges specializing in the adjudication of workers' compensation claims) hear evidence and decide the amount of compensation to which injured employees are entitled. DWC has over 150 judges, who adjudicate over 150,000 claims each year.
DWC judges are subordinate to the seven-member WCAB, to which their decisions may be appealed by way of a petition for reconsideration. The unusual terminology originates from the fact that the IAC at its creation technically had original jurisdiction over all workers' compensation claims, but was immediately overwhelmed by the number of such claims relative to its size. The IAC began appointing referees and delegating them the task of making an initial decision, which then automatically became the decision of the IAC if the losing side did not immediately request reconsideration of the referee's decision made in its name.
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