21 - General powers and duties of commissioner.
§ 21. General powers and duties of commissioner. The commissioner shall be the administrative head of the department and shall have, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, general administrative supervision over the several divisions, boards, commissions, bureaus, and agencies thereof whether established under the provisions of this chapter or the workmen's compensation law and in connection therewith, the commissioner: 1. Shall enforce all the provisions of this chapter and may issue such orders as he finds necessary directing compliance with any provision of this chapter, except as in this chapter otherwise provided; 2. Shall cause proper inspections to be made of all matters prescribed by this chapter; 3. Shall cause investigations to be made of the condition of women in industry; * 3-a. Shall prepare and submit to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on or before the thirtieth day of September an annual report on the status of older workers including those over the age of sixty-five in New York state. Such report shall describe in detail the employment needs of such older workers and the ability of existing state employment services to deal with the problems of older workers. The report shall consider the need for affirmative action, training, counseling, development of alternative work schedules, job development activities within the public and private sector, and the need for improved use by older workers of publicly funded programs for employment and employment-related services. The report shall also consider the economic impact of unemployment among older workers and shall contain recommendations, including the associated costs, for improved programs or for changes in statutes or regulations to provide increased employment opportunities for older workers. * NB Expired October 1, 1981 4. Shall inquire into and report on the causes of all strikes, lockouts and other industrial controversies or labor disputes, and may appoint boards of inquiry for that purpose; 5. Shall institute methods and procedures for the establishment of a program for voluntary compliance by employers and employees with the requirements of this act and all applicable safety and health standards and rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority of this article; 6. Shall provide a method of encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number of safety and health hazards arising from undesirable, inappropriate, or unnecessary working conditions at the workplace and of stimulating employers and employees to institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions; 7. May provide for the establishment and maintenance of public employment offices for the purpose of securing employment for men, women and children; 8. May make investigations, collect and compile statistical information and report upon the conditions of labor generally and upon all matters relating to the enforcement and effect of the provisions of this chapter and of the rules thereunder; 9. May enforce any lawful municipal ordinance, by-law or regulation relating to any place affected by the provisions of this chapter, not in conflict with provisions of this chapter; 10. May investigate the condition of aliens relative to their employment in industry;11. May issue such regulations governing any provision of this chapter as he finds necessary and proper. 12. Shall compile and publish, on an annual basis, a list of all regulations and notices required to be posted by employers for the benefit of their employees pursuant to this chapter, the workers' compensation law and any other state or federal law, rule or regulation. 13. Shall adopt regulations prescribing the methodology for establishing an ongoing monthly statewide cost of labor index and an annual county or appropriate multi-county labor market composite wage rate, in consultation with the commissioner of education, for the purpose of computation of building aid to school districts, as required by subparagraph one of paragraph a of subdivision six of section thirty-six hundred two of the education law.