N.D.’s Construction Compliance Task Force Begins 2nd Year of Operation

Investigators from Workforce Safety & Insurance, the Attorney General’s office and the Secretary of State’s office will be joined by Job Service North Dakota investigators as the Construction Compliance Task Force deploys this spring.

The Task Force will spot check construction sites throughout North Dakota this year to ensure that job sites have the proper licensing, workers’ compensation coverage and unemployment insurance for their workers.

Last year investigators visited 188 construction sites from May through October and reportedly found 54 sites to be in violation of either transient merchant licensing laws, workers’ compensation laws or were not properly licensed with the Secretary of State.

As a result of the Construction Compliance Task Force’s efforts, the Secretary of State saw a surge in the number of requests for licenses and Workforce Safety & Insurance collected over $43,000 in additional premiums from those contractors who were found to be non-compliant.

With the passage of House Bill 1149, Workforce Safety & Insurance is now permitted to include on its certificate of premium payment that an employer has estimated no wages for the advance premium period. This language permits Workforce Safety to print on the certificate of coverage that the holder of the certificate has represented that they have no employees. HB 1149 also permits WSI to disclose whether a particular employer’s account is active, cancelled or in a delinquent status.

For more information, visit Workforce Safety & Insurance’s Web site, www.WorkforceSafety.com.