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Audit finds BOLI plagued by backlogs and management gaps; bureau agrees to 10 recommendations
Summary
A November 2025 performance audit found backlogs and management failures at the Bureau of Labor and Industries; BOLI agreed to all 10 recommendations and described steps taken, including hiring, reclassifications, a new case-management system and a public backlog report by June 2026.
A Secretary of State performance audit released in November 2025 found the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) had pervasive backlogs across major program areas and that management and documentation weaknesses contributed to delays, an audit manager told the Joint Committee on Legislative Audits on Tuesday.
"Poor management and lack of resources played a central role in BOLI's current challenges," audit manager Andrew Love said, summarizing the audit's findings. The audit documented backlogs in wage and hour, civil rights, apprenticeship and legal policy case processing and identified leadership turnover and missing or outdated program policies as key contributors.
The audit included 10 recommendations aimed at reducing backlogs and improving governance; BOLI leaders said they agreed with each recommendation and have begun implementing several. Deputy Commissioner Jessica Gina Tino Via Toro said the bureau requested the audit to help identify problems and has since pursued process mapping, workforce planning, reclassifications, a new operations/project manager position and a replacement for a 20-plus-year-old case-management system.
BOLI officials reported concrete steps: the Legislature funded roughly 50 new positions in 2025, the bureau has processed 30 of 34 reclassifications, and it repurposed federal funding to add compliance staff for apprenticeship programs; BOLI said it cleared a three-year apprenticeship-review backlog and reached federal compliance last September. The bureau plans to publish monthly backlog data on its website by June 2026 and said it will release periodic reports to TED and the e-board.
Love said the audits division will follow up on the audit recommendations 18 months after the November 2025 publication. Committee members pressed whether added funding alone would be sufficient; auditors replied that money helps but must be paired with improved management and documented processes. Deputy Commissioner Tino Via Toro said transparency about triage and wait times is central to restoring public trust and that the bureau now assigns named points of contact for each recommendation.
The committee did not vote on policy changes at the hearing; members indicated they would monitor BOLI's implementation and the audits division's follow-up report.
