Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a modernized open data portal that replaces its prior enforcement data page and expands access to a broader range of labor‑related datasets. The information now made public includes unemployment insurance claims, federal contractor veteran employment data, and county‑level childcare price information. The portal also introduces enhanced features such as data visualizations, a flexible API, and improved AI‑driven search capabilities.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a redesigned open data portal at data.dol.gov, significantly expanding and modernizing public access to labor‑related data. It replaces an enforcement data page that contained only federal agency information, which was decommissioned on February 23, 2026. The new portal includes data submitted to the DOL from employers as well as its own enforcement data.
Purpose
The upgrade is intended to enhance transparency, streamline navigation, and improve compatibility with advanced analytics tools. The DOL says the new portal will benefit “everyone,” including data scientists, researchers, journalists and the general public. The initiative brings DOL into alignment with federal data mandates, including the OPEN Government Data Act of 2019 and the Federal Data Strategy.
The DOL plans to continue to expand the datasets offered on the portal over time, as well as to update its capabilities and integrate AI into the platform. Per the DOL, the platform has already seen strong engagement, with more than 1,400 API users generating over 5 million queries since the soft launch in October 2024.
Published Data
The prior enforcement portal contained information from five agencies: the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
The new portal contains datasets under 4 broad categories — Child Labor, Enforcement, Statistical, and Workforce — and integrates the data sets of 8 DOL agencies, including:
- National weekly unemployment insurance claims from Employment and Training Administration (ETA);
- Federal contractor veteran employment data from the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS); and
- County‑level childcare price data from the Women’s Bureau.
Not all datasets contain statistical information for the same time periods. For example, veteran data (described below) covers filing cycles from 2021 and 2025, while the WHD’s enforcement data dates back to 2005.
VETS-4212 Reports
Of particular interest to federal contractors and subcontractors, the portal contains veteran employment data they are required to report annually in a VETS-4212 Report, under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA). The VETS-4212 Report applies to federal contracts or subcontracts that meet a specified financial threshold, recently increased from $150,000 to $200,000. In the VETS-4212 Report, covered employers report on the number of veterans in their workforce and among new hires the previous year. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) enforces the reporting obligation, and OFCCP also audits compliance.
It seems that VETS-4212 Reports have always technically been public. Section 38 U.S.C. §4212(d)(3) requires the Secretary of Labor to “establish and maintain an Internet website on which the Secretary of Labor shall publicly disclose the information reported….” Interestingly, though, a government website previously used to disclose VETS-4212 data provided restricted access that could “only be accessed or used under certain conditions.” The new portal contains no such limitations. As such, employers presumably have no basis for objecting to the inclusion of their data in the modernized portal. A list of employers who filed the VETS-4212 report for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 is also available on the VETS website.
Seyfarth will continue to monitor updates to the portal’s datasets and other capabilities. For additional questions or assistance, please contact the authors of this alert, a member of Seyfarth’s People Analytics team, or your Seyfarth attorney.
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