It has six major program agencies to carry out these responsibilities: the Employment and Training Administration, the Employment Standards Administration, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is a government corporation that administers the guaranteed retirement pension system. For example, according to Labor officials, billions of dollars in benefits payments to Americans, such as unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, would be at significant risk of disruption, and accurate labor statistics on the economy used by both public and private organizations may not be produced. By late 1996, Labor’s Year 2000 activities had increased, and it reported to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that it completed the Year 2000 awareness phase in December 1996. Several of the systems are at risk of failure, including some state systems that could fail as early as January 1999 because they involve calculations a year into the future. Therefore, it is critical that Labor initiate the development of realistic contingency plans to ensure continuity of core business processes in the event of Year 2000-induced failures. Plans for other business areas and supporting systems are expected later this year.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the significant information technology challenges that the upcoming century change poses to the Department of Labor, and to several of its agencies, focusing on: (1) specific year 2000 issues facing two elements of Labor's Employment and Training Administration; (2) the year 2000 efforts of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs and of the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and (3) observations on the year 2000 readiness of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) Labor and its agencies have made progress, but are still at risk in several areas; (2) these areas include making benefits payments to laid-off workers, collecting labor statistics, and ensuring accurate accounting for pension benefits; (3) several of the systems supporting these business areas are at risk; some could fail as early as January 1999 because they involve calculations a year into the future; and (4) accordingly, it is critical that appropriate contingency plans be developed to ensure business continuity in the event of systems failures.