(a) The Department shall exercise general control over the enforcement of the laws relating to labor and shall—
(1) investigate the influence of localities and employment on labor;
(2) promote, assist, and encourage the improvement of relations between management and labor;
(3) investigate, and determine ways and means of improving working conditions of labor;
(4) administer and enforce the laws pertaining to—
(A) wages, hours, and conditions of work;
(B) full employment, full production, and labor relations;
(C) workers' compensation administration;
(D) child labor;
(E) protection of resident workers;
(F) apprenticeship and manpower training;
(G) discrimination in employment;
(5) mediate, in accordance with law, disputes between management and labor, and between labor organizations;
(6) control and regulate, in accordance with law, all contracts of immigrant and emigrant labor;
(7) perform all functions that may be required to participate in Federally aided or sponsored projects or programs within its authorized fields of activity, and in connection with such participation shall be authorized to enter into contracts and agreements of every kind and nature with the Federal Government for any purpose related to such projects or programs, to comply with such contracts and with any Federal rules, requirements, regulations and procedures applicable to the projects and programs, and otherwise to comply with any conditions imposed by the Federal government upon participation by the Department in such projects and programs; it being the intent of this subparagraph to enable the Department to do any and all things necessary to secure participation in the Federal projects and programs, and Federal financial aid in such projects and programs, and the cooperation of the Federal government in the carrying out, undertaking, development, construction, maintenance and operation of any project or program, in carrying out the functions of the Department, and to assure strict compliance by the Department with any conditions imposed by the Federal government;
(8) provide and operate youth employment programs; and
(9) in cooperation with the Commissioner of Finance, administer the provisions of the Veterans Transportation Fund created by the provisions of Title 33, section 3037 of this Code;
(10) perform such functions as are assigned to it pursuant to the provisions of the industrial development program contained in Title 29, Chapter 12 of the Code;
(11) make recommendations to the Governor, for his submission to the Legislature, with respect to its authorized fields of activity.
(b) The Department shall perform a Territory-wide bi-annual analysis to determine the vocational skills and training, educational, and professional needs of employers in the public and private sectors, including companies that are beneficiaries under the Economic Development Authority’s programs, small business and new emerging industries. The analysis must identify and set forth employment trends from 2012 forward, and forecast future employment needs of employers. The Commissioner shall assign a senior staff member with the requisite training on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to perform the analysis. The analysis must be made available to the Commissioner of the Department of Education, to the chairperson of the committee of jurisdiction at The Legislature of the Virgin Islands, the Economic Development Authority, the Virgin Islands Board of Education, and the Board of Vocational Education.
(c) The Department shall prepare the budget for the Department for submission to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.