There is hereby created the Department of Labor of the State of Alabama, which shall be an executive and administrative department of the state.

The Department of Labor shall be headed by, and shall be under the direction, supervision and control of an officer who shall be known and designated as the Commissioner of Labor. He shall be responsible to the Governor for the administration of the Department of Labor and shall be appointed by and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor. Vacancies in the office for any reason shall be filled in the same manner as original appointments are made. Before entering upon the discharge of his duties the commissioner shall take the constitutional oath of office as provided for under the Constitution and shall execute bond in such penalty as may be prescribed by the Governor, conditioned upon a faithful discharge of his duties and payable to the State of Alabama. The commissioner shall devote full time to his official duties and shall not hold another office under the government of the United States, or under any other state, or of this state or any political subdivision thereof during his incumbency in such office, and shall not hold any position of trust or profit, or engage in any occupation or business the conduct of which shall interfere or be inconsistent with his duties as Director of Labor.

(a) It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the Department of Labor, unless otherwise expressly provided, to administer Chapter 7 of this title and such other statutes as may be provided by law, and to advise the Governor with respect to the provisions thereof. He or she shall have authority to employ such assistants as may be necessary in the discharge of his or her official duties. All such assistants shall be subject to the state Merit System, and shall be paid in the same manner as other state employees.

(b) To the end that strikes, lockouts, boycotts, blacklists, and discriminations may be avoided, the commissioner shall have authority and it shall be his or her duty to investigate labor disputes and to promote the peaceful and voluntary adjustment and settlement thereof.

(c) The commissioner shall keep a permanent record of his or her official acts and proceedings and shall keep the Governor fully informed with respect thereto, and shall make an annual report to the Governor in writing covering the activities and accomplishments of the Department of Labor during the preceding fiscal year.

(d) It shall be the duty of the commissioner to make available to any board of mediation appointed by the Governor pursuant to Section 25-7-4 all data and information in his or her custody or possession relevant or pertinent to any matter which such board of mediation may have been appointed to consider, and to render to any such board of mediation such assistance as it may request of him or her in the discharge of its official duties.

(e) It shall be the duty of the commissioner to administer and enforce the Alabama child labor law relating to minimum age of employment, hours of work, places of employment, and prohibited occupations.

The Commissioner of the Department of Labor shall investigate and attempt equitably to adjust controversies in respect to wage claims or alleged wage claims.

(a) In order to assist employees who become unemployed or underemployed as the result of a substantial layoff at or the closing of any plant or industry in Alabama, the Commissioner of Labor is hereby directed to establish a procedure to provide such unemployed or underemployed employees with seminars concerning their legal rights and responsibilities regarding their debts, to provide written material which deals with these problems and offers appropriate suggestions to such workers and to meet with management at such plants or industries and with labor organizations or other organizations including such employees in an attempt to minimize the financial burden on such employees.

(b) The Commissioner of Labor is authorized to assist and organize cooperative efforts of such employees or groups to which such employees belong in an effort to minimize the adverse impact of such plant or industry layoff or closing upon such employees and the Commissioner of Labor is further directed and authorized, to the extent he deems advisable, to engage in whatever other acts or agreements which are appropriate to assist financially such employees and groups made up of such employees, provided that the Commissioner of Labor is not authorized to require any employer or employee group to involuntarily contribute to a fund or involuntarily take any other action towards such a goal.

(c) If deemed advisable by the Commissioner of Labor, the Commissioner of Labor shall assist a plant or industry which closes or has a substantial layoff in endeavoring to communicate with the creditors of its unemployed workers concerning the financial difficulty caused to its ex-employees by such layoff or closing. If there is a substantial layoff at a plant or industry or if there is a closing of a plant or industry and if a state chartered credit union includes within its field of membership the employees of such plant or industry, then the board of directors of such state chartered credit union shall determine whether such layoff or closing has adversely affected the credit union. If the board of directors determines that such layoff or closing has adversely affected the credit union, then such credit union may include within its field of membership persons residing in the general geographic areas surrounding the plants or industries served by such credit union. Any such expansion of the field of membership of such credit union shall not be denied or restricted by any provisions of the law of Alabama heretofore enacted. Any such credit union shall endeavor to assist all such unemployed members by granting them extended periods within which to pay indebtedness owed to the credit union, to the extent deemed advisable by its board of directors.

(d) In order to stabilize the share and deposit base of credit unions which may or could be affected by plant or industry closings or by substantial layoffs, any credit union which includes in its field of membership employees of any particular company or companies shall be authorized to accept shares and deposits from such company or companies, subject to such terms and conditions as the board of directors of the credit union may establish, and such company or companies may become a member of the credit union, subject to such terms and conditions as the board of directors of the credit union may establish.

(e) The Commissioner of Labor is further directed and authorized to issue regulations, to the extent he deems advisable, concerning the instances in which employees at plants or industries which have been closed or have been the subject of substantial layoffs and organizations which include employees of such plants or industries may make appropriate disclosures of the financial situation of such employees and may assist the creditors of such workers in locating them and in arranging voluntary payment plans for their debts; provided however that nothing contained in this section shall be construed so as to authorize any activity which violates any federal act or regulation.