On May 1, 1915, amid the reform-driven energy of the Progressive Era, Royal Meeker, then Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), launched the Monthly Labor Review (MLR). While not expressly a legal publication, the MLR quickly became an essential tool for lawmakers, attorneys, and regulators navigating the rapidly evolving world of labor and employment law.
At a time when the American workplace was undergoing seismic shifts—from industrial accidents to unionization efforts—the MLR provided a reliable, data-rich lens into working conditions, wage trends, and labor force dynamics. Its in-depth statistics and analyses helped shape public policy and informed early federal labor protections, including those that would later appear in laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.Over the past century, employment law practitioners have turned to the MLR to understand how economic changes intersect with labor policy—tracking everything from minimum wage trends to workplace injury rates, and more recently, gig economy employment and remote work developments.
Now exclusively online, the MLR remains a valuable resource for legal professionals looking to ground their arguments and strategies in empirical evidence. In an era where workplace regulation continues to evolve, this century-old publication still plays a vital role in bridging labor statistics and labor law
For answers to your employment law questions, call our office at 301-441-1400 to schedule an appointment with one of Thatcher Zavaro & Mani’s attorneys. www.thatcherlaw.com
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