The Georgia Department of Labor provides a wide range of services to job seekers and employers. These include the administration of Georgia's unemployment insurance, employment service, provision of workforce information to the public and private sectors, and oversight of child labor issues.

The Georgia Department of Labor, administered by State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, was established in 1911. Known then as the Department of Commerce and Labor, it had broad authority over industrial and occupational safety and administration of labor laws. The department's first administrator was Harris McCall Stanley, who served from 1912-37.

In 1920, when the Georgia General Assembly enacted the states first workmen's compensation law, responsibility for the administration of its provisions also went to the department.