Government Documents: Jobs & Career

The Department of Labor (DOL) fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees of the United States by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits, helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and tracking changes in employment, prices, and other national economic measurements. In carrying out this mission, the Department administers a variety of Federal labor laws including those that guarantee workers’ rights to safe and healthful working conditions; a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay; freedom from employment discrimination; unemployment insurance; and other income support.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

The business of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet is to educate, prepare and train Kentucky's current and future workforce. As a bridge between the world of education and the world of work, the cabinet coordinates P-20 learning programs and manages and supports training and employment opportunities.

The primary responsibility of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet is to ensure that divisions and offices falling under the auspices of the Cabinet work within the jurisdiction of Kentucky labor law to ensure equitable and fair treatment of the Commonwealth’s 1.9 million wage earning employees. Specifically, the Cabinet, according to regulation, shall have the duties, responsibilities, power, and authority relating to labor, wage and hour issues, occupational safety and health of employees, child labor, apprenticeship, workers’ compensation insurance, and all other matters under the jurisdiction of the Labor Cabinet.

As the primary state agency encouraging job creation, retention and business investment in Kentucky, the Cabinet for Economic Development works to attract new industries and assists existing companies to grow and expand. The Cabinet also provides support and resources for entrepreneurs, startups and small business owners. As well, it helps prepare communities for economic development opportunities.

This webpage contains statistics relating to employment and unemployment, wages, and state-by-state datasets.

This webpage provides links to EEOC publications such as factsheets for identifying discriminatory actions.

Find local resources and information to find a job, obtain unemployment benefits, or get contacts to help with next steps.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a resource for occupational and career information, providing profiles on a majority of jobs in the United States. Profiles describe the work environment, education and training needed, ten year outlook, and median pay for workers.

USAJOBS connects job seekers with federal employment opportunities across the United States and around the world. As the Federal Government’s official employment site, USAJOBS provides resources to help the right people find the right jobs.

The Kentucky Career Center assists with creating a resume by walking the user through the process step-by-step. This website also provides a job board for users to submit their resume and applications for open positions within the state.

The Tech Ready Apprentices for Careers in Kentucky (TRACK) youth pre-apprenticeship program is a partnership between the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education and the Kentucky Labor Cabinet to provide secondary students with career pathway opportunities into Registered Apprenticeship programs.

Search for apprenticeships for various occupations in the state of Kentucky.