| Agency Name: | Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry |
| Jurisdiction: | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
| Headquarters: | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
| Employees: | 5,000 |
| Chief1 Name: | Nancy Walker |
| Chief1 Position: | Secretary |
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is a cabinet-level agency in the Government of Pennsylvania. The agency is charged with the task of overseeing the health and safety of workers, enforcement of the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, vocational rehabilitation for people with disabilities, and administration of unemployment benefits and Workers' compensation.[1]
When this agency was founded by Governor John Kinley Tener, John Price Jackson was appointed as the first Commissioner. Jackson was confirmed in post by Governor Martin Grove Brumbaugh on June 2, 1917, but took a leave of absence from state office when accepted a Commission in the US Army following the United States entry into the First World War.[2]
| Name | Dates served | Appointed by |
|---|---|---|
| John Price Jackson | 1913-1919 | John K. Tener |
| Clifford B. Connelley | 1919-1923 | William Cameron Sproul |
| Royal Meeker | 1923-1925 | Gifford Pinchot |
| Richard H. Lansburgh | 1925-1927 | |
| Charles A. Waters | 1927-1929 | John Stuchell Fisher |
| Peter Glick | 1929-1931 | |
| Arthur Miller Northrop | 1931-1933 | Gifford Pinchot |
| Charlotte E. Carr | 1933-1935 | |
| Edward Noel Jones | 1935 | George Howard Earle III |
| Ralph Moody Bashore | 1935-1939 | |
| Lewis G. Hines | 1939-1943 | Arthur James |
| William H. Chestnut | 1943-1951 | Edward Martin |
| David M. Walker | 1951-1955 | John S. Fine |
| John R. Torquato | 1955-1957 | George M. Leader |
| William L. Batt, Jr. | 1957-1961 | |
| A. Allen Sulcowe | 1961-1963 | David L. Lawrence |
| William P. Young | 1963-1967 | William Scranton |
| William Joseph Hart | 1967-1968 | Raymond P. Shafer |
| John K. Tabor | 1968-1969 | |
| Clifford L. Jones | 1969-1970 | |
| Theodore Robb | 1970-1971 | |
| Paul J. Smith | 1971-1979 | Milton Shapp |
| Myron L. Joseph | 1979 | Dick Thornburgh |
| Charles J. Lieberth | 1979-1981 | |
| Barry H. Stern | 1981-1984 | |
| James Knepper | 1984-1987 | |
| Harris Wofford | 1987-1991 | Bob Casey Sr. |
| Tom Foley | 1991-1994 | |
| Robert S. Barnett | 1994-1995 | |
| Johnny J. Butler | 1995-2003 | Tom Ridge |
| Stephen Schmerin | 2003–2008 | Ed Rendell |
| Sandi Vito | 2008–2011 | |
| Julia K. Hearthway | 2011–2015 | Tom Corbett |
| Kathy Manderino | 2015–2017 | Tom Wolf |
| Jerry Oleksiak | 2017-2020 | |
| Jennifer Berrier | 2020–2023 | |
| Nancy Walker | 2023–present | Josh Shapiro |