Legislative budget writers heard Feb. 25 from both labor and business groups that Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) needs to add more investigators.
Oregon AFL-CIO president Graham Trainor said he’s testified too many times over the years about BOLI’s inadequate budget.
“BOLI is unable to carry out its mission,” he told members of the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee On Transportation and Economic Development, “because they are receiving far more claims than the divisions can process. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to right this course and ensure that the laws the Legislature has already passed are a reality for Oregonians.”
Last September, Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson announced that BOLI can no longer investigate wage claims filed by workers who make more than $25.34 per hour for now — because there aren’t enough investigators. Claims have more than tripled since 2020.
Medical interpreter Felicity Ratway told the subcommittee she filed a wage claim in November after her employer failed to pay for her contract work, and was told it would be six months before BOLI could look at her complaint. Ratway sits on the executive council of the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon.
“I will stay afloat, but not everyone has that luxury,” Ratway said. “For many workers, waiting six months for a resolution of a missed paycheck is financially devastating, not to mention unjust. We deserve an agency that is well funded enough to help us in a timely manner.”
Ratway said BOLI’s backlog encourages some businesses to flout the law. “They feel they can get away with this because BOLI will not be able to respond for months — and there is nothing workers can do,” she said.
BOLI has requested 70 new positions, about half for more wage and civil-rights investigators. The governor’s recommended two-year budget for BOLI, $45.4 million, would pay for those new positions and also an upgrade to BOLI’s computer systems.
Rep. David Gomberg (D-Otis), the budget subcommittee co-chair, said BOLI clearly needs more people, but it will need time to hire and train new staff to eliminate the backlogs of claims and complaints.
“I do not know if we are going to get the money to add those positions,” he said at the close of the hearing. “But I think there is a pathway forward.”
Gov. Tina Kotek has proposed to draw much of the money from one-time transfers of $15 million from the Workers Benefit Fund and $5 million from the Oregon Business Development Department. Funded by a 2 cent payroll tax, the Workers Benefit Fund pays for programs for injured workers. But it’s grown flush in recent years, and recently reported a balance of $138 million, almost two years of expenses. (Senate Bill 946, which hasn’t yet had a hearing, would allow BOLI to draw permanently from the Workers Benefit Fund.)
At the hearing, business groups joined labor in support of BOLI’s budget request.
“The Legislature continues to introduce new laws and pass new laws that are confusing for employers and require a lot of work to implement and comply with,” said Oregon Business & Industry executive vice president Paloma Sparks. “We ask the Legislature to show its commitment by funding the agency.”
Todd Mustard, executive manager of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), testified that underfunded enforcement efforts hurt businesses that comply with the regulations.
“Asking the agency to provide such critical support to workers and not fully funding them to do so is an untenable situation for our state,” said Kirsten Adams of the Oregon and Columbia chapter of Associated General Contractors.
Labor Commissioner Stephenson said the budget will be discussed again in April.
