Worker protection agencies need more funding to enforce labor laws and protect workers

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the widespread dangers and injustices that workers face every day. For too long, workers have been forced to work in unsafe conditions, suffered from excessive wage theft, and been subjected to discrimination and harassment. While laws aimed at deterring these workplace abuses already exist, enforcement efforts have been woefully insufficient because the agencies tasked with protecting workers are chronically under-resourced. As Congress and the Biden administration work on budget spending and COVID-19 recovery legislation, there is an urgent opportunity to correct these inadequacies in our labor law system and boost funding for enforcement agencies.

The Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enforce major worker protection laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the National Labor Relations Act. These statutes guarantee U.S. workers a minimum wage, a safe and healthy workplace, and the right to collective bargaining, respectively, but weak enforcement has led to pervasive and repeated violations of these laws. Despite inflation, a growing workforce, and increasingly complex workplaces, funding for agencies like the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the NLRB has largely remained stagnant over the last decade, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

Funding for worker protection agencies, fiscal years 2006–2021 (in thousands)

Fiscal Years Wage and Hour Division Occupational Safety and Health Administration National Labor Relations Board
2006 165,685 472,427 249,745
2007 173,185 486,925 251,507
2008 175,658 486,000 251,762
2009 193,092 513,042 262,595
2010 227,606 558,620 283,400
2011 227,606 558,620 282,800
2012 227,491 564,788 278,306
2013 227,061 535,246 263,748
2014 224,330 552,247 274,224
2015 227,500 552,787 274,224
2016 227,500 552,787 274,224
2017 227,500 552,787 274,224
2018 227,500 552,787 274,224
2019 229,000 557,233 274,224
2020 242,000 581,233 274,224
2021 246,000 591,233 274,224
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Source: Department of Labor, Budget, Performance, and Planning reports, fiscal years 2008-2021, downloadable from https://www.dol.gov/general/budget, accessed July 23, 2021.

National Labor Relations Board, Performance Budget Justification reports, fiscal years 2010–2021, downloadable from https://www.nlrb.gov/resources/performance-budget-justification, accessed July 23, 2021.

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In large part, these agencies’ inability to enforce these statutes fully can be linked to insufficient resources, which impedes the hiring of more investigators or inspectors—staff who play critical roles in initiating investigations and ensuring compliance. As shown in Figure B, the number of private-sector workers per WHD investigators and federal OSHA inspectors has largely increased since 1979. This means that each investigator or inspector is “responsible” for far more employees than they were four decades ago.

Figure B

The Wage and Hour Division and Occupational Safety and Health Administration are responsible for more workers than they were 40 years ago: Number of private-sector workers per investigators, 1979-2019

Fiscal Year Wage and Hour Division Occupational Safety and Health Administration
1979  81,717   61,642 
1980  84,215   60,710 
1981  94,420   69,916 
1982  96,685   88,106 
1983  96,019   76,816 
1984  102,192   90,007 
1985  101,383   93,782 
1986  108,196   100,761 
1987  106,272   101,166 
1988  109,526   90,432 
1989  110,348   103,119 
1990  115,782   90,277 
1991  123,495   93,952 
1992  128,529   97,036 
1993  136,072   103,699 
1994  140,628   111,831 
1995  142,663   117,053 
1996  150,856   126,415 
1997  128,473   115,368 
1998  131,717   120,581 
1999  135,355   125,334 
2000  136,859   133,621 
2001  137,181   129,506 
2002  142,799   126,090 
2003  150,348   123,117 
2004  164,059   128,507 
2005  170,209   137,627 
2006  178,208   141,175 
2007  184,926   142,791 
2008  184,413   144,023 
2009  143,857   138,437 
2010  123,498   125,808 
2011  126,378   122,201 
2012  123,427   130,911 
2013  128,816   134,777 
2014  139,973   138,553 
2015  140,193   147,923 
2016  145,657   149,023 
2017  157,741   160,558 
2018  175,008   179,303 
2019  189,878   198,532 
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Source: EPI calculations from the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor’s data on investigators on board from 1979–2019, the AFL-CIO’s “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2021” data on Occupational Safety and Health Administration federal compliance inspectors from 1979-2019, and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data on the total number of employees covered by unemployment insurance programs in the U.S from 1979-2019.

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For example, there were 61,642 workers for every federal OSHA inspector in 1979, but this number tripled to 198,532 by 2019. That is 19 times the International Labor Organization’s recommendation of one inspector per 10,000 workers. Even more concerning, OSHA had a record-low number of investigators in 2020 before the onset of the pandemic, which contributed to the sharp decline in agency investigations. OSHA conducted only 21,674 inspections in fiscal year (FY) 2020, compared with 33,393 in FY2019 and 32,023 in FY2018.

This chronic under-resourcing of enforcement agencies has been detrimental to workers’ wellbeing. In 2019, 275 workers died each day from workplace injuries, with Latinx and Black workers—who face more dangerous working conditions—having higher risks of dying on the job. Further, nearly 3.5 million workers suffered workplace injuries or illnesses, as reported by employers. While these statistics are already staggering, they likely underestimate the severity of issues workers face. In fact, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the majority of employers still fail to report workplace injuries due to OSHA’s limited resources and procedures.

Unsurprisingly, the Wage and Hour Division’s enforcement has also suffered from a steady decline in critical staffing. In 1979, there were 81,717 workers for every wage and hour investigator, but that figure more than doubled to 189,878 by 2019. Further, between 2010 to 2019, the number of investigators shrunk by 25% from 1,035 to only 780, and staff interviewed by GAO directly attributed these declines to the agency’s funding levels. Consequently, officials reported taking various steps to stretch its already-thin resources and staffing, including by dropping “low-priority” cases.

Insufficient enforcement also burdens workers with remarkable monetary costs. A 2017 report estimates that in the 10 most populous states in the country, workers lose $8 billion each year to wage theft, averaging $3,300 of lost wages annually per year-round worker. In sharp contrast, DOL and state departments of labor and attorneys general in 2016 recovered just $414 million in back wages on behalf of workers. A recent report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics confirms that the DOL’s weak enforcement system does little to deter wage theft. The paper reports that since many employers are acutely aware of enforcement agencies’ stretched resources, they expect fewer investigations of labor law violations and minimal penalties if caught.

A look at funding and hiring levels at the NLRB, the agency that ensures that workers have the right to form a union, reveals similarly concerning trends: Enforcement continues to take a backseat in agencies’ priorities and has not kept up with the growth in the workforce. As shown in Figure C, despite an increase in the private-sector workforce, the number of full-time employees at the NLRB has dropped by nearly 31% from 1,789 to 1,320 between 2006 and 2019. During the same timeframe, the number of covered workers per NLRB staff increased by 50%, from one full-time employee per 74,809 workers to one full-time employee per 112,201 workers. Further, staffing levels at regional offices, which typically handle the intake of complaints filed by workers, dropped by 33% between 2010 and 2019. Relatedly, a report by the GAO released in March 2021 found a severe decline in morale across the NLRB, with only about one-third of employees agreeing that the agency has sufficient resources, while nearly half admitted to having an unreasonable workload. Unfortunately, the deliberate underfunding of the NLRB is symptomatic of widespread neglect of the importance of enforcement agencies.

Unionization efforts have also faced sustained attacks, as weak enforcement allows illegal conduct to flourish. Our research has shown that employers are charged with violating federal law in 41.5% of all union election campaigns, and one out of five union election campaigns involves a charge that a worker was illegally fired for union activity. Consequently, union elections today are characterized by employer intimidation and in no way reflect the democratic process guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act. 

Figure C

The National Labor Relations Board is now responsible for far more workers than it was a decade ago: Number of private-sector workers per NLRB full-time employee, 2007-2019

Fiscal Years National Labor Relations Board 
2007  78,292 
2008  82,804 
2009  80,784 
2010  78,321 
2011  77,076 
2012  80,303 
2013  83,888 
2014  84,853 
2015  87,896 
2016  92,969 
2017  98,064 
2018  110,790 
2019  112,201 
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Source: EPI calculations from the National Labor Relation Board's data on full-time employees from 2006-2019 and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data on the total number of employees covered by unemployment insurance programs in the U.S from 2006-2019.

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While recent trends in enforcement funding are dismal, there is renewed political will to prioritize the just and timely enforcement of our nation’s labor laws. The Biden administration has signaled its intent to escalate investigations of workplace abuses and has put forth proposals that would significantly boost agencies’ funding. In fact, the Biden proposal sets aside at least $2.1 billion for worker protections, a significant step towards meeting the needs of today’s workforce. As we continue on the road to recovering from the pandemic, stronger enforcement of labor laws should remain central to discussions about reviving the economy and uplifting the working class.