Updates related to COVID-19

• No walk-in customers or visitors at offices:  The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry is no longer allowing walk-in customers and visitors at our office locations until further notice in response to Governor Tim Walz’s Stay At Home Executive Order 20-20. For assistance, contact our staff members via phone or email from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

• Frequently asked questions for employers and employees related to COVID-19 (April 1, 2020)

• View worker protections related to COVID-19 (March 26, 2020)

• Minnesota OSHA Compliance:  COVID-19 related resources, information

• Minnesota OSHA Workplace Safety Consultation:  Safety and health guidelines for the employers and employees of essential work operations

• Critical sectors:  Critical sector worker info | Email:  criticalsectors@state.mn.us | Critical worker definitions

• Guidance for Minnesotans about Coronavirus Disease 2019 from the Minnesota Department of Health

Labor Standards

• Frequently asked questions for employers and employees related to COVID-19 (March 27, 2020)

Construction trades information, exams and licenses

• DLI license exams:  All exams are suspended indefinitely. Learn more.

• Continuing education:  Deadlines have been extended 90 days for licenses that expire in March, April and May 2020.

  • License renewals must still be submitted prior to the current expiration date. Late fees will apply to renewals submitted after the expiration date. Renew a license here.

• Construction inspection requirements for municipalities and help for contractors.

• Building and plumbing plan review:  Electronic plans and paper plans submitted prior to March 27, 2020, will continue to be reviewed. Paper plans submitted after March 27, 2020, will not be processed until the Stay at Home order is lifted. For the quickest review, submit plans online.

• Inspections and permits:  Updates for electrical, high-pressure piping, boiler, manufactured structures, building and plumbing permits and inspections:

  • Online permits will continue to be issued. No paper permit applications will be processed until the Stay at Home order is lifted.

  • Inspections to critical sectors exempt from the Stay at Home order will continue. These include residential and non-residential building construction.

• The 2020 Spring Seminar about Proposed Amendments to the 2018 International Residential Code is canceled.

• Board and council meeting cancellations.

Apprenticeship

• Event postponements.

• For apprenticeship program sponsors: Guidelines for suspending or postponing training operations.

Minnesota OSHA

• The Excavation Safety Stand-down has been moved to June 15 through 19, 2020.

• The March 31 Construction Seminar, Cranes in construction, has been rescheduled to May 19.

Workers' compensation

• Administrative conferences, mediations:  As of Monday, March 23, 2020, the Department of Labor and Industry will conduct administrative conferences and mediations remotely by telephone or video conference. Parties also have the option of rescheduling events to a later date. Contact us at dli.workcomp@state.mn.us or 651-284-5032, or contact your assigned mediator, for more information.

• Copy file review:  DLI's Copy File Review team will be contacting citizens who have appointments scheduled to look at their workers' compensation files, so they can reschedule their appointment 30 days or more in the future. If it is imperative they see their file at their scheduled appointment time, DLI will limit the individual's access to a singular room and the Copy File Review team will ensure social-distancing practices are followed.

• Medical Services Review Board:  The April 16 Medical Services Review Board meeting will be online only. Information about how to join the meeting will be available soon.

• Rehabilitation consultations:  Until further notice, the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) will not take any enforcement action under Minnesota Rules 5220.0130 against any qualified rehabilitation consultant (QRC) who conducts a rehabilitation consultation with an injured worker by telephone or video, rather than in person. DLI encourages QRCs to limit in-person meetings and implement social-distancing measures when providing a rehabilitation consultation and other rehabilitation services to injured workers. Placement vendors and their staff members, who meet with injured workers, are also encouraged to conduct meetings by phone or video.

• Work Comp Campus:  The Workers' Compensation Modernization Program (WCMP) will continue to work on implementing Work Comp Campus as scheduled. We remain available to address questions you have at dli.wcmp@state.mn.us.