Por Erick Oribio
¿Could you please tell me about your history as a Delegate?
When I was elected it was the year when the governor was elected, and he asked me to join his administration. When I was in office I served on the House Economic Matters Committee and was the ranking member for the minority party.
¿When were you hired as the Secretary? almost 4 years ago, ¿correct?
In 2015. When the Governor took office in January of 2015, I took my position as his Nominee to that office, so I took as a Nominated Secretary in January 2015 and I was confirmed by the end of February 2015.
¿Could you please talk about the Mission of your office?
The Mission of the Department of Labor is to be able to create a safe and healthy work environment and to be able to provide opportunities to those that are seeking employment and to those that are looking for a stable work force.
¿Does the agency have several offices in different counties to serve all the communities across the state?
Absolutely. We have several types of offices. The Department of Labor is very diverse; with six major divisions within the agency, one being our Financial Regulation, so we regulate the all the state banks, mortgage companies and deposits for credit unions. Also, the Racing Commission. All the state-wide horse racing is regulated there. We have occupational and professional licensing, for all the professional boards; from cosmetologists, to engineers, to cemeteries, to home improvement commissions. We have 26 boards and commissions that meet out of our office. Our division of Unemployment Insurance, where we obviously collect employers’ tax that benefits employees, if they let go their Jobs, to be able to receive their financial benefits. And we have the Work Force Development Program that helps provide training skills, adult education, correctional education, to everyone that wants to utilize that service for free. We have regional offices in most counties, where people canget free resume assistance, interviewing assistance, access to the jobs available throughout the state and get qualified for additional training programs to help them in a new career pathway. We also provide grants to community members, so they can develop training programs needed in their areas. Also, the Division of Labor and Industry, where we assist both employers and employees about compliance with the Wage Discrimination Law. This is regulated and run there, making sure that everybody understands the regulations. And our OSHA Office, Maryland Office of Safety and Health, where we verify that the work sites are safe.
¿Is all this information available online for people that would like to know more about training and regulations?
Sure. They can visit: www.dllr.maryland.gov and find links to the divisions that we have in the state of Maryland and all the programming. Also phone numbers for them to call.
I would like to ask you to send a message to the Hispanic community, minorities, new immigrants; about the opportunities and the access that you provide to all social levels
Yes, it is important for everybody to know that we offer programs for people that are looking for entry level divisions, and to get trained into a career path that they have already started. So, if you are in a career and you think that there is no way to move up that ladder, we have programs that can assist you. We have seen great success across the state with offices that assist, and our partners in each of the counties have been very helpful reaching out particularly the Hispanic community, making sure they have opportunities rarely accessible. Also, what we do at the Department of Labor is based on posting assistance from our customers, so for all the boards and commissions that we have mentioned, we have openings for, not only their licensed members, but also consumer members; and we like to hear from our consumers. We also like a diverse representation on our board and commission. We have listed on our website openings of divisions and specific boards; if any of your readership would like to get pointed to one of them, we are always looking for consumer members to participate, that is very helpful; and if they have organizations where they would like us to talk about what we do, our work choice opportunities, how to create a safe work environment, wage disparities, or their employment status; we do that regularly. We have teams across the state, meeting and educating groups every day. That’s our mission, we would prefer everybody to be educated on how to comply with the law as opposed to us having to enforce it, I think that works best for everybody.
¡Wonderful! ¿Anything that you would like to add before we finish this interview?
I appreciate this community. They’ve been a very important part of what we have accomplished so far. Working with the Hispanic chambers, the professionals and engineers; we have had a very good partnership with everyone, making sure that diversity and opportunities are there for everyone. We hope to continue to make that great progress.
Contact:
www.dllr.state.md.us
