The Department of Labor is not a giant buyer by federal standards. It spends roughly $2.2 billion a year on goods and services, which is small next to Defense or HHS. That actually works in your favor. DOL is a focused, repeat buyer with a strong small-business track record, and it has earned top marks on the SBA small-business procurement scorecard for several consecutive years. A smaller agency with good habits is exactly where a new contractor can get a foothold without competing against every large prime in the country.
Here is the real path: how to register, which set-asides DOL uses, where it posts work, and how a small or diverse firm actually lands a contract or a subcontract.
What DOL buys, and who buys itDOL is made up of agencies you may already know by their acronyms: OSHA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Employment and Training Administration, the Wage and Hour Division, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the Job Corps program, among others. They buy a wide mix: IT and software development, data collection and statistical services, training and curriculum development, facilities and Job Center operations, professional and administrative support, research, and security.
The office you care about is the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), which sits inside DOL's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management. OSDBU's job is to push procurement opportunities toward small businesses, including small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, HUBZone firms, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. They run outreach, advise the contracting officers, and act as your front door into the agency.
Step one: get registered and verifiedYou cannot receive a federal contract without an active SAM.gov registration. That is the non-negotiable starting line for selling to DOL or any agency.
- Get a Unique Entity ID (UEI) through SAM.gov (the DUNS number was retired in 2022).
- Register your entity in SAM.gov and keep it active. Registration is free.
- Identify your NAICS codes so DOL's market research surfaces you for the right work.
- If you hold or are pursuing a socioeconomic designation, complete the relevant certification: 8(a) and HUBZone are certified through SBA, WOSB/EDWOSB through SBA's certification system, and SDVOSB/VOSB through the SBA Veteran Small Business Certification program.
Those certifications are what unlock set-aside competitions. If you are not sure which ones you qualify for, our certification guides break down the eligibility rules for each program, and CertifyAll handles the applications across multiple agencies once your documents are in one place.
The set-asides DOL usesDOL contracting officers set work aside for small businesses through the same statutory categories every civilian agency uses. OSDBU administers opportunities across:
- Small business set-asides (general)
- 8(a) Business Development program (small disadvantaged businesses)
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged WOSB
- HUBZone firms
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
The "rule of two" drives a lot of this: if a contracting officer reasonably expects at least two capable small businesses to bid at a fair market price, the requirement is usually set aside for small business. That is why a real, specific capability statement matters. You want DOL's market research to find two of you so the work gets reserved instead of opened to large firms.
Every federal agency negotiates annual small-business goals with SBA and gets graded on the SBA small-business procurement scorecard. DOL has consistently scored well, which signals that contracting officers there are actively looking for qualified small and diverse vendors rather than treating set-asides as a box to check.
Where DOL posts the workThree places matter, in order.
SAM.gov is where solicitations, sources-sought notices, and award notices are posted. Set up saved searches by your NAICS codes and by "Department of Labor" so notices hit your inbox. Read the sources-sought and request-for-information notices closely. Those come out before a solicitation and are how DOL decides whether to set the work aside. Responding to a sources-sought is often more valuable than responding to the final RFP, because you can influence the set-aside decision before competition is locked.
The DOL Procurement Forecast is published annually by OSDBU for planning purposes. It lists current and planned procurements, the estimated dollar ranges, the likely set-aside type, and points of contact. This is your roadmap for the year. Use it to spot work 6 to 12 months out and start building a relationship with the listed program office before the solicitation drops.
The federal spending record tells you what DOL has actually bought and from whom. Looking at past awards by NAICS and agency shows you the incumbents, the typical contract size, and which socioeconomic categories DOL has used. Our federal spending database lets you filter awards by agency and business type so you can size the opportunity before you chase it.
Quarterly vendor outreach sessionsOSDBU runs Small Business Vendor Outreach Sessions (VOS) on a quarterly basis. These give you scheduled, face-to-face time with OSDBU staff and agency program and acquisition officials to pitch your capabilities and learn about upcoming needs. DOL also publishes the names and contact information of key acquisition personnel, including IT managers, through its vendor communication plan.
Treat a VOS like a sales meeting, not an info session. Bring a tight capability statement, know which NAICS and set-aside categories you fit, and reference a specific line from the procurement forecast you can deliver on. The contracting officers in the room remember the firm that came in with a concrete fit, not the one that asked how to register.
Prime versus subcontractYou do not have to win a prime contract to start earning DOL revenue. Two paths run in parallel.
As a prime, you bid set-asides and small-business competitions directly. Start with smaller, well-scoped buys where you can show past performance, then grow into larger vehicles.
As a subcontractor, you team with an incumbent or a large prime already holding DOL work. Prime contractors on larger DOL awards carry subcontracting plans with small-business and diverse-supplier goals they have to meet and report. That demand is structural, not optional, which makes subcontracting a realistic on-ramp while you build the past performance to prime. Identify the current large primes from the award record, then approach them with a capability statement that maps to their subcontracting goals.
A realistic first 90 days- Confirm your SAM.gov registration is active and your UEI and NAICS codes are correct.
- Pin down which set-aside categories you qualify for and start any certifications you are missing.
- Pull the DOL Procurement Forecast and flag every line that matches your NAICS.
- Set SAM.gov saved searches and respond to the next sources-sought notice in your lane.
- Register for the next quarterly Vendor Outreach Session.
Before you spend a dollar chasing DOL, it is worth knowing whether your firm reads as contract-ready, since that is the first thing a contracting officer's market research judges. Our government readiness tool walks through registration, certifications, and capability gaps and gives you a score and a short punch list. Run it, fix what it flags, then go to your first outreach session with a real plan.
Sources: DOL OSDBU FAQ, DOL Vendor Communication Plan, DOL Vendor Outreach Sessions, DOL Procurement Forecast, SBA Small Business Procurement Scorecard.
