GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1128*

Short Title:  DOL Staff/Equipment Funds.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Jordan.
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Referred to:  Appropriations.
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May 11, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF AND EQUIPMENT.
Whereas, protecting the health and safety of North Carolina's workers is a primary responsibility of the Department of Labor; and
Whereas, the safety consultants and inspectors who teach and consult with workers about workplace health and safety require additional support and personnel to best assist employers and employees across North Carolina; and
Whereas, the General Assembly has given the Department of Labor the mandate to enforce the provisions of the Retaliatory Employee Discrimination Act which requires sufficient investigators and support personnel to protect employees from unlawful retaliatory employment discrimination; and
Whereas, the administrative services offered by the Department of Labor provide information, education, and training, as well as the expertise to help to decrease workplace illnesses and injuries and to provide the first line of communications and assistance to the State's employers and employees; and
Whereas, computerized, up-to-date and accurate information provides the State with a device for measuring the effectiveness of established programs, and assistance in assessing future health and safety needs; and
Whereas, there exists a current backlog of wage payment complaints such that the average length of time needed to close a wage complaint case is seven months, and additional compliance officers would enable the Department to reduce the length of a wage complaint investigation to two months and to curb suspect wage and hour practices; and
Whereas, North Carolina growers are requesting preoccupancy inspections of migrant housing in increasing numbers, and the Department is mandated to carry out these inspections according to the Migrant Housing Act of 1989 which was enacted to protect migrant workers from unsafe and inadequate housing; and
Whereas, the Department of Labor is mandated by the federal government to participate in an expanding role in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey program; and
Whereas, by law, the oversight and protection of individuals who register with private personnel agencies is the responsibility of the Department of Labor, and the requests for assistance from employment applicants is increasing steadily; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Labor the sum of three million three hundred forty-six thousand two hundred seventy-four dollars ($3,346,274) for the 1993-94 fiscal year and the sum of three million three hundred forty-two thousand two hundred forty-nine dollars ($3,342,249) for the 1994-95 fiscal year for additional staff and equipment needs.
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.