Minnesota labor commissioner to retire next week

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) commissioner is set to retire at the end of next week.

Gov. Tim Walz’s office announced Monday that Roslyn Robertson will retire on Aug. 12 after more than 34 years with the agency.

Robertson has worked in a variety of roles at DLI, starting as a student worker and working her way up until she was appointed by Walz as DLI commissioner on Jan. 22, 2021. She actually retired in 2015 but returned in 2019 as deputy commissioner, then took on the top job after the Minnesota Senate rejected Commissioner Nancy Leppink.

DLI oversees many programs — including occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, dual-training pipeline, construction codes and licensing — and works to ensure Minnesota’s work and living environments are safe and equitable.

“Commissioner Robertson’s years of work to improve workplace safety have made Minnesotans safer on the job,” Walz said in a statement. “From her work to educate employees about their rights, to heading up the Frontline Worker Pay program, I am incredibly grateful for her decades of service and dedication to our state.”

“It has been an honor to lead our agency’s dedicated staff members and ensure all our stakeholders’ input is considered, valued, and acted upon,” Robertson said. “For more than 34 years, I have worked to address worker protection issues, help injured workers promptly receive benefits and services, and educate employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace.”

Walz’s office said Deputy Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach will serve as a temporary commissioner through the remainder of Walz and Flanagan’s first term.