The District office responsible for deciding private-sector workers’ compensation disputes has a backlog of dozens of cases that are more than a year late, due in large part to its trouble hiring and retaining judges, according to a new Office of the Inspector General report.

Under D.C. law, the Department of Employment Services’ administrative hearings division has 90 days to hold a formal hearing on a workers’ comp case, and another 20 days for the assigned administrative law judge to render a decision.