Minnesota Agencies

The department administered the state's merit system and provided human resource products and services to 120 state agencies, boards, and commissions; negotiates and administers labor agreements and developed and administered compensation plans covering 36,250 state executive branch employees; and developed, implemented, and managed employee and dependent insurance benefits for over 120,000 covered lives and workers' compensation benefits for employees of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches and to quasi-state agencies.

In 1979 Minn. Laws Chap. 332, the Legislative Commission on Employee Relations was established. The commission consisted of six members of the senate and six members of the house of representatives.

In 1980 (Minn. Stat. 43.001, Subd. 1.), the Department of Employee Relations was created under the control and supervision of a commissioner of the same name. The same piece of legislation changed the department of personnel to the department of employee relations. The title of the commissioner of personnel was similarly changed to the commissioner of employee relations.

In 2007 Governor Tim Pawlenty proposed the elimination of the Department of Employee Relations (DOER) and the merging of its operations into other agencies (transferring its functions to the Departments of Finance, Administration and Health). As of June, 2008, the 140 employees of DOER had been parsed out to other state agencies. The reorganization involved no layoffs. Most workers have moved to Finance, which temporarily used the name Finance and Employee Relations. In the fall of 2008, the Department of Finance became Minnesota Management and Budget. MMB would not become a "department" until the Legislature made that determination in the 2009 session.

Commissioner; term, 4 years or pleasure of governor.
Commissioner History: Barbara Sundquist, (exact dates unknown); Nina Rothchild, January 3, 1983 - 1991; Lance Teachworth (Acting Commissioner), January 1, 1991; Linda Barton, January 15, 1991- October 7, 1994; Bruce Johnson (Acting Commissioner) October, 1994 - December 20, 1994; Bruce Johnson, December 21, 1994 - 1995; Wayne Simoneau (Acting Commissioner), October 1, 1995 - ; Wayne Simoneau, March 26, 1996 - ; Karen Carpenter, 1996 - November, 1999; Wayne Simoneau (Acting Commissioner), November, 1999 - March, 2000; Julien Carter, March 27, 2000 - Sept. 12, 2002; Ann Schluter (Acting Commissioner), August 22, 2002; Cal Ludeman, January 13, 2003 - ; Matt Kramer (Acting Commissioner), August 9, 2006; Pat Anderson, January, 10, 2007-May 30, 2008.