Interim labor commissioner asks appropriations committee to fund a 13th investigator to reduce backlog

Zachary Greenberg, interim commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights, asked the Senate Appropriations Committee Human Resources Division to approve a biennial budget of $3,495,709 and full funding for the departments 13th FTE so the agency can reduce its pending case backlog and increase investigative capacity.

Why it matters: The department enforces state human-rights and housing-discrimination statutes and Wage and Hour laws; clearing a backlog shortens the time victims and employers wait for determinations and potential remedies.

Key points from testimony

- Budget and request: Greenberg told the committee the department is requesting $3,495,709 for the biennium, composed of $2,965,443 in general-fund authority and $530,266 in federal funding authority. He said the department currently has 13 positions authorized but one of those positions remained unfunded in the last biennium; the department requests funding to fill that position as a compliance investigator.

- Caseload and staffing: Greenberg said the department is now fully staffed for the first time in five years and reported a backlog of 387 cases; he said the backlog has declined by about 30 cases since November 2024 and the department closed more than 200 additional cases in the 2023 biennium compared with 2021. He told senators the investigator role requires candidates with investigative experience (often paralegals or attorneys) and that hiring qualified applicants has been a challenge in prior years.

- Statutory duties and programs: Greenberg summarized the departments statutory authority under chapter(s) of the North Dakota Century Code and Title 14 (human-rights and housing-discrimination statutes), and described the departments Wage and Hour enforcement work (minimum wage, overtime, child-labor certificates) and public-education programs such as WorkplaceWise.

- Interagency and federal collaboration: Greenberg said the department has cooperative investigation agreements with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and receives federal funding authority tied to those cooperative programs.

Direct quotes

"The department currently is 13 full time employees, 1 of which remain unfunded in the last biennium. I'm happy to report that the department is now fully staffed for the first time in 5 years," Zachary Greenberg, interim commissioner, said in opening testimony.

"I humbly request the committee demonstrate its support for the statutory duties granted to the department by the legislature and recommend do pass for the requested $3,495,709 budget and 13 funded FTEs," Greenberg told senators at the close of his remarks.

Formal actions and votes

No formal committee votes were recorded in the testimony. Greenberg said both the governor's recommendation and the House included funding for the 13th FTE; he said the department requests the committee adopt that funding.

What remains pending

The department will continue recruitment to maintain full staffing and pursue its outreach schedule (WorkplaceWise sessions across the state); Greenberg said continued funding for investigator training and the thirteenth FTE will be necessary to sustain improvements in case-processing time.

Ending

The chairman closed the public hearing after questions from senators on caseload, remedies and federal coordination.