Labor and Industry highlights enforcement, workers’ comp rehabilitation, apprenticeship and new nursing‑home rules

ST. PAUL — Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Commissioner Nicole Lisonbee told the House Workforce Committee on Jan. 8 that the agency’s mission is to “ensure that Minnesota's work and living environments are equitable, healthy and safe,” and reviewed the department’s operating divisions and recent enforcement activity.

Lisonbee opened with a budget and funding overview, noting that roughly half of the department’s revenue comes from the Workers’ Compensation Fund and smaller shares from construction‑codes fees, federal funds and the general fund. She said penalty funds collected by different divisions are distributed to different state accounts depending on program rules.

On workers’ compensation, Lisonbee highlighted vocational rehabilitation and the department’s special compensation fund, which covers claims when employers lack insurance. She described a case where Vocational Rehabilitation Unit staff helped an injured worker with concussion‑related driving limits reenter the workforce as a paraprofessional, and another where the special compensation fund paid benefits when an uninsured employer failed to carry coverage.

Lisonbee reporte…