The Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries is an elected government position in the U.S. state of Oregon. The commissioner is the chief executive of Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries and serves a four-year term.
The commissioner is also chairperson of the State Apprenticeship and Training Council and executive secretary of the Wage and Hour Commission. The commissioner enforces state laws related to employment, housing, and public accommodation with respect to discrimination, wages, hours of employment, working conditions, prevailing wage rates, and child labor. The commissioner also enforces state laws prohibiting discrimination related to vocational, professional, and trade schools, and administers licensing required by many professional services. The commissioner oversees the Wage Security Fund, a source of coverage for unpaid wages in some business closure and group health situations.
The current commissioner is Christina Stephenson, elected in 2022.
History Upon inception, from 1903, the position was titled Oregon Labor Commissioner until 1918. It was called Oregon Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Inspector of Factories and Workshops from 1918 until 1930. It became Oregon Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor from 1930 to 1979 when the legislature changed it to Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries.
11 individuals have served as commissioner since the office's inception. Party affiliation is included, though the legislature made the position a nonpartisan office in 1995; the first nonpartisan election was in 1998.
List of Oregon commissioners of labor # Name Party Term Elected or reelected 1 O. P. Hoff Republican June 2, 1903 – January 6, 1919 1903 appointment by Governor Chamberlain; elected in 1906, 1910, 1914 2 Charles H. Gram Republican January 6, 1919 – January 4, 1943 1918, 1922, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1938 3 W. E. Kimsey Republican January 4, 1943 – January 3, 1955 1942, 1946, 1950 4 Norman O. Nilsen Democratic January 3, 1955 – January 6, 1975 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970 5 Bill Stevenson Democratic January 6, 1975 – January 1, 1979 1974 6 Mary Wendy Roberts Democratic January 1, 1979 – January 2, 1995 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990 7 Jack Roberts Republican January 2, 1995 – January 6, 2003 1994, 1998 8 Dan Gardner Democratic January 6, 2003 – April 7, 2008On March 12, 2008, Dan Gardner announced his resignation, effective April 7, 2008. 2002, 2006 9 Brad Avakian Democratic April 8, 2008 – January 7, 2019 appointment by Governor Kulongoski mid-2008 to replaceresignation by Gardner; elected 2008, 2012, 2014 10 Val Hoyle Democratic January 7, 2019 – January 2, 2023 2018 11 Christina Stephenson Democratic January 2, 2023 – present 2022, 2026
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