It is the mission of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) to make Virginia a better place in which to work, live, and conduct business. We will achieve this goal by promoting safe, healthful workplaces, best employment practices, the protection of children from hazardous employment, and safe operation of boiler and pressure vessels.

Virginia’s workplaces will be safer and more productive through sound occupational safety and health practices that drive increased awareness of hazard prevention and result in both workplaces and a workforce that is injury and illness free. Children will be protected from working in hazardous occupations, while employers and employees will be protected by fair enforcement of labor laws. Virginians will be protected from the dangers of unsafe boiler and pressure vessel operations.

• Organizational Capability – by addressing vacancies, onboarding new hires, and enhancing team deliverables.


• Leadership Development/Delivery – by identifying development needs, participating in leadership course work, and engaging in learning through summits and seminars


• Execution of Work – by improving quality, broadening reach, and expanding abilities in programs and technical areas, and working to enhance our systems and project management abilities


• Stakeholder Engagement – by representing DOLI externally, driving agency task force participation relative to strategic investigations, alliances with stakeholders, and enhancing our abilities in response to media requests


• Culture – by collaborating in conversations and behaviors that lean forward and deliver increased professional, positive outcomes

DOLI was created in 1898 as the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics for Virginia state government. Its purpose was to compile accurate information on both raw materials and labor and also to report on the activity of the principal industries of the day in the Commonwealth.

DOLI's current role is as an Executive Branch agency whose powers and mandates are set forth in Title 40.1 of the Code of Virginia.  These responsibilities as set out include:

• Occupational safety and health protection of employees in the workplace;


• Boiler and pressure vessel safety;


• Licensed asbestos and certified lead contractor notification and inspection;


• Enforcement of the Virginia Asbestos NESHAP Act;


• Role of the Agency in regard to labor unions, strikes, etc.; and


• Child labor protections, minimum wage, equal pay, and payment of wage.

General Information about Ongoing Status of Agency:

The Agency continues to strengthen its programs, and to strive to make Virginia a safer, healthier, and more productive place to live and work.

Agency employees continue to focus on greater efficiency, while increasing the effectiveness of our services that enhance economic development. Where it is advantageous to do so, the Agency has partnered with other state and federal agencies, with local governments, and with private sector entities to make workplaces safer and healthier, while simultaneously lowering costs for employers.

The Agency has elevated the importance of communicating important safety and health information to the public. Public Service Announcements, posts to the Agency website, and social media have been utilized in providing this service. The Agency created new positions in social media and communications to handle the additional work generated by these changes.

To handle the increasing needs of the agency and improve the quality of our services, modernization was needed to increase efficiency and customer focus. The Agency strives to improve customer experience.  The Agency is working closely with VITA as an early adopter and pilot partner for new technology platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Dynamics, and an updated webpage standardization initiative.

The Agency has historically been engaged by an ever-increasing cohort of customers who are unilingual speakers. As resources have permitted, the Agency has developed Spanish translations of the agency website and made informational posters and other materials available. In addition, DOLI offices provide access to phone translation services, as well as staff who are fluent in Spanish and can serve as translators when needed. To a lesser degree, DOLI is increasingly encountering customers who primarily speak languages other than English and Spanish, which challenge it's ability to meet service delivery demands.  To address this new challenge, we are becoming more adapt at leveraging the Commonwealth of Virginia’s language services to address language barriers, and using translation services on our website.

Moving forward, the Agency endeavors to:

• Further develop and refine Agency programs, Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) and Boiler Safety, that make Virginia a safe, healthy, and productive place to work; Continue to work with employers and Virginia’s workforce, especially those who seek to strengthen their safety and health programs, and who understand the business value of workplace cultures that are injury free;


• Work to increase the impact of the VOSH Program by multiplying the size and expertise of our Voluntary Protection Program, and eventually expand into the construction industry and other mobile workforce industries; Improve the efficiency of the child labor online employment certificate processes; Strengthen payment of wage collection procedures;


• Modernize information systems; and


• Improve communications with stakeholders (employers, employees, labor unions, trade associations, etc.) through the agency website and social media platforms.

The Agency's programs and related administrative support functions are sustained by functional specific, business application systems.  Each application provides agency programs the business functionality to comply with statutory responsibilities and best management practices.  The VOSH Program utilizes integrated software systems supplied and supported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States Department of Labor such as the OSHA Information System (OIS).  The Office of Research and Analysis utilizes software systems supplied and supported by Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Division of Labor and Employment Law uses the Virginia Electronic Employment Certificate System, (VAeECS), which that agency had custom built, and a legacy Oracle case management system. The Asbestos and Lead program utilizes a legacy Oracle system but is transitioning to a new system to ease access by stakeholders. The Hearings and Legal Services division utilizes a legacy Oracle case management system, but is transitioning to a new system. The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety division utilizes a third party inspection and reporting system online called Jurisdiction Online (JOL).

Population increases, enhanced workforce opportunities, and new regulatory programs (affecting customer bases) create increased demand for agency services, particularly real-time automated interactive business processes to support on-line licensure and case management. Renewed emphasis on anytime/anywhere access to electronic data generates greater demand for enhanced delivery, readiness, and reporting capabilities.

On-going Agency IT Projects and Initiatives:

The Agency is currently undergoing a modernization effort to replace major systems for all program areas.  The Agency continues to work with VITA to expand the Microsoft Dynamics suite of products and platforms for major systems.  The To-Be state DOLI vision is guided by the organizational mission and is intended to better enable these critical processes through the goals, requirements, and considerations outlined as follows:

• Integrated operations:
  
  
  
  • Integrate systems and processes to increase efficiency and move as one organization.
  
  
  
  


• Best-in-class, online customer service:
  
  
  
  • Provide quality online services to the public to drive ease of stakeholder access and engagement and accessible service delivery.
  
  
  
  


• Unparalleled, citizen-centered user experience:
  
  
  
  • Provide seamless, convenient, effective, and eased digital access for DOLI customers.
  
  
  
  


• Leading business processes:
  
  
  
  • Incorporate credit card payment capability for public use.
  
  
  • Automate and digitize citizen experience processes to reduce manual workflows, use of paper, duplication, and workarounds and lead the field in operational efficiency and technology.
  
  
  
  


• Empowered agency staff:
  
  
  
  • Provide best-in-class functionality and interfaces to staff to enable them to do their jobs efficiently and effectively and focus on agency mission.
  
  
  
  


• Operational visibility:
  
  
  
  • Enable robust reporting capabilities to clearly view performance and workflow, inform continual improvement, and meet other reporting demands.
  
  
  
  


• Modernized technology:
  
  
  
  • Adopt a system that provides a secure, stable, and high-performing technology environment that complies with requirements and leading practice.
  
  
  
  


• Streamlined technology:
  
  
  
  • Achieve more efficient system support, maintenance, and enhancement operations.
  
  
  
  


• Sustainable technology:
  
  
  
  •  Allow for enhancements through a configurable, scalable, and adaptable system that can also be maintained and supported over time.
  
  
  
  

Like many other state agencies, DOLI has experienced significant challenges in recent years, including recruiting and retaining qualified individuals, a limited training budget, and an aging workforce. An analysis of workforce planning data reveals that the Agency is not receiving a large pool of applicants for each position, and many of whom do not possess the desired knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively carry out the required duties. At the same time, the Agency continues to experience significant job enlargement for existing staff due to the inability to successfully recruit or retain existing staff, for a significant number of positions. The nature of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities associated with many of the positions within the Agency require skills that are very specialized, marketable, and in demand. As noted previously, the Agency continuously faces stiff competition from private sector organizations, federal agencies, and larger state agencies which are also seeking to hire similarly trained and skilled employees and who can offer more lucrative compensation packages.

The Agency faces workforce challenges due to an increasing number of employees who are eligible to retire; the loss of staff to federal and local governments; and private industry companies that offer highly competitive salaries.  In an effort to reduce turnover,  the Agency has developed a workforce strategic plan that includes a set strategic direction, analysis of workforce and skill gaps; an action plan, and lastly monitoring of plans to assure correct direction.

This plan will enable the Agency to align workforce requirements with business needs to fulfill the mission of the Agency, identify gaps between competencies the workforce currently possesses and future competency requirements, identify and implement gap reduction strategies, implement organization restructuring to meet business needs and identify and overcome internal and external barriers to accomplishing strategic workforce goals.

The Agency has expanded services to a continually increasing number of customers, even with facing increased employee turnover and retention issues and greatly diminished resources. Federal and state funding in the past has directly impacted staffing availability resulting in a major impact relative to retention of Agency employees. It has also caused significant salary compression which, over time, has compounded the loss of experienced long-term employees who leave the Agency for more lucrative employment elsewhere. In general, allocations for technology, staff training, and salaries have fallen far behind the pace of the rising costs of doing business in the Commonwealth.

As one means of retention, a detailed orientation program continues to acquaint new agency employees with the many advantages of employment within the agency. Due to the size of the Agency, there are limited opportunities for internal advancement. However, DOLI has established new apprenticeship programs within the Agency to enhance career growth for its employees. The Division of Labor and Employment Law now offers apprenticeship opportunities when vacancies occur within their Divisions in certain roles. The Agency also continues to mentor new staff in the VOSH Program.

The Agency completed a classification and compensation study to address salaries for front line staff and compliance officers, to meet the median salary ranges in an effort to be more competitive. However, the salary adjustments have not been sufficient to retain staff and the Agency continues to see turnover. A data analysis shows that if the Agency can retain staff through the first 5 years, turnover drops significantly.

The Agency maintains a central headquarters office in Henrico County, Virginia within a multi-agency privately-owned building. It also maintains leased regional office spaces in Henrico County, Manassas, Roanoke, and Norfolk, as well as field office spaces in Verona, Lynchburg, and Abingdon, which provide services throughout the Commonwealth.  All of these properties are managed/leased through the Department of General Services-Division of Real Estate Services.

1. Of the fifty-nine (59) VOSH Compliance Safety and Health Officer positions, forty-seven (47) are currently filled. Of those forty-seven (47), 29% are filled by CSHO apprentices. The VOSH program has an experience gap for a robust program. Though the Agency is actively recruiting to fill vacant positions, there are obstacles to recruitment and retention, primarily related to compensation.


2. In addition, staffing remains at a critical level, given Agency mission, and based on the 59 benchmark positions. In 1984, three years after the VOSH Program achieved operational status, there were 109,238 establishment and 2,098,046 employees in the Commonwealth.  More recently, the Virginia Employment Commission, Quarterly Employment and Wages Report for the fourth quarter of 2022 indicates that VOSH has jurisdiction over approximately 4.8 million employees in 307,309 establishments  – a 181% increase in establishments and a 129% increase in employees. However, funding and staffing has not been commensurate with expansion.


3. Information Technology Demands: Increasing technology changes and related costs continue to present critical challenges to meeting program business needs and security standard requirements including staff support, infrastructure, equipment, software, development, ongoing maintenance, related service provider support, and staff training on the use of newer software and technology.


4. Workforce Impact: As more of the Agency's most qualified employees retire or are nearing retirement, there is cause for serious concern. Their departure results in a loss of significant institutional knowledge and expertise, leaving vacancies to be filled by less experienced employees, who require training and/or other certifications.

Finance

Financial Overview:

The Agency is funded by Federal Funds from the U.S. Department of Labor, State General Fund Appropriations, and Special Revenue Funds from various sources, including Indirect Cost Recoveries, Asbestos/Lead Project Permit Fees, Consultation and Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Grant Matching Funds, and registration fees for the VOSH Conference.

The Agency's programs contribute significant revenues to the state that offset program costs. For state fiscal year 2024, the Agency's revenues were $14,386,176.41, representing 57% of annual agency expenditures. These revenues were a result of fees collected in the Boiler and Asbestos programs and penalties collected by the Agency's VOSH and Labor and Employment Law Divisions.

The Agency's programs contribute significant revenues to the state that offset program costs. For state fiscal year 2024, the Agency's revenues represented 57% of annual Agency expenditures. These revenues were a combination of fees collected in the Boiler and Asbestos programs, and penalties collected by the Agency's VOSH and Labor and Employment Law Divisions.

The following statistics provide a comprehensive snapshot of the magnitude of the Agency's operations during state fiscal year 2024.

The Agency's employees serve more than 4.8 million employees and 307,309 establishments in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

The Agency's maximum employment level (MEL) is 180. This is a 23 FTE reduction from last year, due to the transition of the Division of Registered Apprenticeships (RA) to Virginia Works.

The number of members on the Safety and Health Codes Board is expected to remain stable at 12 members, with two standing ex-officio members covering the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

Products and services with a direct impact on external customers include:

• VOSH Program:
  
  
  
  • Compliance Program
  
  
  • Asbestos and Lead Notification Program, Project Permits, and Fees
  
  
  • Injury and illness rates by industry reports
  
  
  • Consultation and outreach to assist employers with compliance
  
  
  • Training services
  
  
  • Voluntary protection programs
  
  
  
  


• Labor Law:
  
  
  
  • Wage and Hour Law Enforcement
  
  
  • Youth Employment Permits and Enforcement
  
  
  
  


• Boilers and Pressure Vessels:
  
  
  
  • Inspection and certification of boilers and pressure vessels
  
  
  
  


• Hearings and Legal Services:
  
  
  
  • General legal services, litigation, and alternative dispute resolution and mediation
  
  
  • Regulatory coordination and development
  
  
  • Whistleblower Protection Program
  
  
  
  


• External Affairs
  
  
  
  • Board Administration
  
  
  • Policy analysis and plan development (including strategic planning)
  
  
  • Legislative Analysis
  
  
  • Quality assurance and performance measurement
  
  
  • Records/information management
  
  
  
  


• Administration and Business Services
  
  
  
  • Risk management
  
  
  • Budget and financial management
  
  
  • Business continuity planning
  
  
  • Information technology and systems development
  
  
  • Facilities management and visitor access control
  
  
  • Mail processing and delivery
  
  
  • Employee benefits administration development
  
  
  • Employee recruitment and succession planning
  
  
  
  

• Initiated agency transformation which included:
  
  
  
  • Agency Restructure to drive decision-making and program alignment
  
  
  • Establishment of three (3) strategic initiatives
    
    
    
    • Increase stakeholder engagement
    
    
    • Drive to a more cohesive DOLI team
    
    
    • Modernize work processes and related applications
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Implementation of a Top Five (5) program initiatives
  
  
  • Integration of set Values-in-Action
  
  
  
  

• Increase in workplace and worksite presence resulting in a 22% increase in field inspections focused on hazard prevention


• Initiation of an Injury and Illness Free campaign to drive fatalities, injuries, and illnesses down across Virginia 


• During federal fiscal year 2024, the Agency enhanced economic development and made Virginia a safer and healthier place to live and work. The Agency's occupational safety and health compliance staff identified 7,662 occupational safety and health hazards.


• The Agency’s boiler and pressure vessel safety staff issued 29,108 inspection certificates for covered boiler and pressure vessel objects.


• Increased awareness and proactive actions taken to comply and exceed IT security measures as set forth by the Governor’s Cyber Security mandate.


• Replacement of outdated Finance system. 


• Implementation of public portal/platform for Labor and Employment Law payment of wage claims and stakeholder acess to employment certificates.

The existing system is over 25 years old and is Oracle based. A new Microsoft Dynamics Financials platform is in production with enhancements in development.

• 

Increase safety and health awareness and practices in the workplace.

Enhance child labor certification requirements and promote safety and health awareness and practices in the workplace.

Confirm that all Vessels subject to inspections and permitting are current. Identify additional vessels in operations that should be inspected and permitted.

Provide the public and industry options for credit card or bank transfer payments for permit fees. Modernize the monitoring and permitting process.

• 

This service area is now part of the Virginia Workforce Development.

It oversees Virginia's Registered Apprenticeship Program, implements the mandates and requirements of the Virginia Voluntary Apprenticeship law, and provides staff support for the Virginia Apprenticeship Council, which is the policy board responsible for adopting regulations for this program.

The Apprenticeship Program is funded by State General Fund Appropriation.

This Service Area provides overall management direction and administrative support to the Agency's other service areas.

This Service Area directly aligns with the Agency's mission of making Virginia a better place in which to work, live and conduct business by providing effective and efficient administrative and resource support to achieve the Agency’s mission, while ensuring full compliance with all applicable state and federal rules and regulations, laws, and executive orders.

The Code of Virginia, Chapter 1 of Title 40.1, provides for the establishment of the Department of Labor and Industry and establishes the authority of the Commissioner. The Code of Virginia, Chapter 1 of Title 40.1, at subsection 5 of §40.1-6, authorizes the Commissioner "to appoint such representatives as may be necessary to aid him in his work; their duties shall be prescribed by the Commissioner." 

Executive Leadership and Management;

Accounting, budgeting, financial management, and compliance for all Agency funding streams;

Information Technology and telecommunications for all Agency programs;

Human resource services, including staff recruitment and retention, training, benefit administration, dispute resolution, implementation and evaluation of fair employment practices;

General Services, which incorporates asset management, contract management, procurement, facilities management, general service support, and Regional/Field Office Administrative Support.

Agency Administrative and Support Services are funded by State General Fund Appropriation and Nongeneral Indirect Cost Recovery Funds.