There is in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency the Department of Industrial Relations.

One of the functions of the Department of Industrial Relations is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.

The Department of Industrial Relations may assist and cooperate with the Wage and Hour Division, and the Children’s Bureau, United States Department of Labor, in the enforcement within this State of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and, subject to the regulations of the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, or the Chief of the Children’s Bureau, and subject to the laws of the State applicable to the receipt and expenditures of money, may be reimbursed by the division or the bureau for the reasonable cost of such assistance and cooperation.

The department shall develop a long range program for upgrading and expanding the resources of the State of California in the area of occupational health and medicine. The program shall include a contractual agreement with the University of California for the creation of occupational health centers affiliated with regional schools of medicine and public health. One such occupational health center shall be situated in the northern part of the state and one in the southern part. The primary function of these occupational health centers shall be the training of occupational physicians and nurses, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and industrial hygienists. In addition, the centers shall serve as referral centers for occupational illnesses and shall engage in research on the causes, diagnosis, and prevention of occupational illnesses.

The centers shall also inform the Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Industrial Relations, State Department of Health Services, and the Department of Food and Agriculture of their clinical and research findings.

In furtherance of the provisions of Section 50.5, the director, or the Director of Employment Development, may comment on the impact of actions or projects proposed by public agencies on opportunities for profitable employment, and such agencies shall consider such comments in their decisions.

The department shall be conducted under the control of an executive officer known as Director of Industrial Relations. The Director of Industrial Relations shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate and hold office at the pleasure of the Governor and shall receive an annual salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Except as otherwise prescribed in this code, the provisions of the Government Code relating to departments of the State shall govern and apply to the conduct of the department.

Whenever in Section 1001 or in Part 1 (commencing with Section 11000) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code “head of the department” or similar designation occurs, the same shall, for the purposes of this code, mean the director, except that in respect to matters which by the express provisions of this code are committed to or retained under the jurisdiction of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, or the Industrial Welfare Commission the designation shall mean the Division of Workers’ Compensation, the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, or the Industrial Welfare Commission, as the case may be.

The director shall perform all duties, exercise all powers and jurisdiction, assume and discharge all responsibilities, and carry out and effect all purposes vested by law in the department, except as otherwise expressly provided by this code.

The director may appoint an attorney and assistants licensed to practice law in this state. In the absence of an appointment, the attorney for the Division of Workers’ Compensation shall also perform legal services for the department as the Director of Industrial Relations may direct.

For the purpose of administration the director shall organize the department subject to the approval of the Governor, in the manner he deems necessary properly to segregate and conduct the work of the department. Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the contrary, the director may require any division in the department to assist in the enforcement of any or all laws within the jurisdiction of the department. Except as provided in Section 18930 of the Health and Safety Code, the director may, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 11371), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of the Government Code, make rules and regulations that are reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter and to effectuate its purposes. The provisions of this section, however, shall not apply to the Division of Workers’ Compensation or the State Compensation Insurance Fund, except as to any power or jurisdiction within those divisions as may have been specifically conferred upon the director by law.

The work of the department shall be divided into at least five divisions known as the Division of Workers’ Compensation, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

Each division shall be in charge of a chief who shall be appointed by the Governor and shall receive a salary fixed in accordance with law, and shall serve at the pleasure of the director.

employee by any department, division, or board within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the appropriate entity shall collaborate with each other and take all reasonable efforts to transmit the complaint to the appropriate entity for processing and investigation.

a person employed in any of the following:

includes, but is not limited to, the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, Division of Occupational Safety and

Health, or Employment Development Department.

All duties, powers, and jurisdiction relating to the administration of the State Compensation Insurance Fund shall be vested in the Board of Directors of the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

The department shall have possession and control of all records, books, papers, offices, equipment, supplies, moneys, funds, appropriations, land, and other property, real or personal, held for the benefit or use of all commissions, divisions, and offices of the department and the title to all such property held for the use and benefit of the State is hereby transferred to the State.

The department through its appropriate officers shall administer and enforce all laws imposing any duty, power, or function upon the offices or officers of the department.

Except as otherwise provided, the provisions of Divisions 4 and 4.5 of this code shall be administered and enforced by the Division of Workers’ Compensation.