Swan talks commissioner role at GOP women's group meeting

Kathy Swan, a former politician and current Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations commissioner, described the specifics of her position at a meeting of the Cape Girardeau County Republican Women’s Club on Friday, Aug. 4.

In front of nearly 20 attendees, Swan dove into the history of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and some of the work she’s done as a commissioner.

“We’re making decisions that impact people’s lives and their livelihood, and sometimes there are medical issues, too, if it’s a worker’s compensation issue,” Swan said. “We take it very seriously.”

Kathy Swan

Kathy Swan

The commission has three seats, all appointed by the governor, with one commissioner each representing the public, employers and employees. Members serve six-year terms. As a higher appellate authority, they rule on decisions that have already been made but were later appealed.

Swan is the employer representative, being the former president of her father’s telecommunications company. The public representative, currently Rodney Campbell, must be licensed to practice law in Missouri.

The employee representative seat is vacant. Since the commissioners cannot all be of the same political party, Swan said whoever takes up the mantle will have to be a Democrat.

In the 2022 fiscal year, the commission ruled on 3,346 decisions, almost all of which were unemployment claims. Swan said the coronavirus pandemic led to an increased number of those compared to previous years.

To receive unemployment benefits, an applicant must be monetarily eligible, have at least three job contacts per week, report all earnings and participate in re-employment services as directed. They must also be unemployed through no fault of their own or have quit for a good cause, such as leaving because a promised stable salary was later cut.

“Much of this is in statute, so we don’t make up the definition of misconduct,” Swan told attendees. “It is in the statutes. It’s an extremely legal process that this goes through.”

She also deals with workers’ compensation claims, so she described the settlement process, disability guidelines and strict timelines involved.

It’s important, she added, that every employee needs to be made aware of what their employer’s policies are.

“I cannot stress enough to employers (to) make sure you have policy manuals, make sure every employee knows, that they sign off on it ... and you keep track of that in the employee files, because that is evidence,” she said.

Swan has worn many hats as an elected official, including Cape Girardeau City Council member and District 147 state representative. She served in the latter capacity from 2013 to 2021.

In 2022, Gov. Mike Parson appointed her to her current position.

“I wanted to continue to serve in the state government. I just let it be known and applied,” Swan said.

She added that Friday was her first time publicly explaining the position’s duties in such detail.

“I wanted them to have a greater awareness as the general public and as a group ... of what the Department of Labor does,” she said.

The Republican group met at Delmonico’s Steakhouse in Jackson.